


The Future Looks Shiny!

by ThatNerdyMonbebe



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Angst, M/M, Pokemon AU, Pokemon Battles, Slow Burn, a variety of kpop side-characters, friendship and adventures and pokemon...oh my, organized PokéCrime, y'all get a little fluff... as a treat
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-10
Updated: 2020-03-23
Packaged: 2021-02-24 15:41:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 81,296
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21740368
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatNerdyMonbebe/pseuds/ThatNerdyMonbebe
Summary: Almia! It’s not the first place that comes to mind when you think of Pokémon Training. It’s not the first place that comes to mind when you think of anything, actually… But to Changkyun it was the perfect place to start his journey!Albeit, a much more hectic journey than he could have ever anticipated. What with all the eccentric strangers, an ambitious milkman, and a whole Pokémon abduction scheme lurking in the shadows; there’s only so much you can prepare yourself for! And if there’s anything Changkyun is horrible at, it’s preparedness!
Relationships: Im Changkyun | I.M/Lee Hoseok | Wonho, Lee Jooheon/Lee Minhyuk, Son Hyunwoo | Shownu/Yoo Kihyun
Comments: 24
Kudos: 30





	1. Got Milk?

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to the beginning of my first massive multi-chapter fic! 
> 
> There’s a few things I wanted to note before starting. The setting of this whole fic is inspired by the game Pokémon Rangers: Shadows of Almia (best game in the franchise in my opinion), I made sure to write this in a way so people who haven’t played it can easily read this and enjoy, but threw in enough easter eggs and character callbacks for those who have played to go “ayeee”. I tried to keep a nice balance, but if anyone needs further explanation, I will happily supply!
> 
> That being said, I hope you enjoy! :)

The world of Pokémon! A place filled with the hopeful dreams and aspirations of people from all walks of life! Whether those dreams are to stand alongside Pokémon and protect the beautiful world that they all inhabit, or those who stand together in the name of friendly competition! Wherever one’s dreams lie, one thing holds true: the heart desires adventure! And on one of those adventures is where we find our young hero, Im Changkyun and his partner Pokémon Poochyena!

**……….**

The salty gust of wind whistled over the expanse of the quaint passenger boat; Changkyun tilted his head up and breathed it all in.

“Yep! Smells like a fresh start!” a small ‘yip’ of agreement chimes from the seat next to him; his beloved Poochyena staring back at him with an excited expression that mimicked his own Changkyun chuckles and pulled the pup onto his lap and gave her golden coat a sturdy ruffle, “We’re almost there, Punch!”

And as if on queue:

“Alright, folks! We’ve entered Almia waters, we’ll be docking at Nabiki Port within the hour!

Punch, in her excitement, leaped from her partner’s lap and and bounded to the railing of the boat 

“Punch! We’ve talked about this!” Changkyun shrieked, running after her before she could tumble over the side...again. It’s been a long four hours, and he _really_ didn’t want to dangle over the side of the boat to retrieve his overactive pup a second time; because contrast to what the little girl sitting across from them thinks, this is _not_ funny!

With the rambunctious ball of copper and gold secured in his arms (and his mini panic attack quelled), Changkyun peered out over the horizon and was greeted with the serene coastline of the Almia region. A scape of green forest stretched as far as the eye could see and, if he squinted, the outline of a shining tower peeking over the sea of trees. 

_That must be Altru Tower…_ He stared in awe. 

“Look,” Changkyun smiled, pointing outward, “it’s as _shiny_ as you!”

Punch grunted in, what Changkyun could only assume was, disapproval. He mentally high-fived himself. Changkyun loved it when his carefully thought out puns received the appropriate response. 

Changkyun looked out over the waters and the land he would soon be standing on. He never thought he’d get to this point in his life, much less feel the unabashed freedom flowing through the air around him. Changkyun took a seat close to the view and allowed himself to reflect on what’s brought him here; it was as good a time as any, really.

-

Changkyun has wanted to be a trainer since the first time he watched a battle take place on the streets of his home town, Jubilife City. The twelve year old watched on with enthrallment as the Pokémon - a Rapidash and Honchkrow - battled with friendly ferocity… was such a thing possible? Changkyun wasn’t entirely sure, but as far as he was concerned, it existed here. 

The young boy’s eyes bounced back and forth as the trainers directed their partners across the makeshift battleground, and how the Pokémon listened; placing full trust in their partner’s judgement. Changkyun had never seen anything so incredible! In that moment he decided that’s what he wanted to do: become a trainer!

“Sweetheart… don’t you think that’s a little…” His mother trailed off, countenance etched with mild concern.

Changkyun frowned, that certainly wasn’t the reaction he was expecting… Changkyun had run straight home after the Honchkrow had claimed its victory, elated to tell his mother of his newfound dream; and how he wants to start as soon as possible _because it was all so cool!_... he was a tad disappointed to say the least. 

His mother’s eyes softened at her son’s change of mood, she lifted his chin with a gentle hand and spoke, “Maybe when you’re older. For now, let’s focus on finishing up school, okay?”

“But mom…” The boy whined. 

“You’re not trying to insinuate that you should drop out of school to become a Pokémon trainer, are you?” She smiled, that “motherly disapproval” smile she, and every mother, worked so well. 

His frown deepened. “No, mom…” 

“Perfect! She placed a small kiss to his forehead. “Now, go get washed up, dinner is almost ready!”

That didn’t stop him from researching every possible thing about Pokémon and the League he could get his hands on! Hey, she wanted him to study, right?

\- 

Changkyun sat in a circle with his classmates. Their teacher had suggested they all share their dreams for the future, with graduation approaching and whatnot. The question quickly made its way to him, he took a shallow breath before answering.

“I’d like to be a Pokémon trainer.” Changkyun said with hesitancy, he can hear someone stifle their laughter. _‘Ah, there it is.’_ He thought

“He can hardly look people in the eye,” One of his peers whispered, “what makes him think he can be a trainer?” 

_Maybe so…_

“He’s so… awkward… how is he gonna even a approach a Pokémon?” 

_It’s gotta be easier than talking to you people…_

“Now, now, class. Dreams are dreams, let’s not put each other down!”

_Hmm, good sentiment… poorly stated…_ Changkyun rolled his eyes.

Changkyun sighed. It’s nothing new, he’s only been hearing it for the past four years and one hundred twenty-seven days… not that he’s counting or anything. Whether you chalk it up to him being socially incompetant or just plain awkward, one thing was certain: Changkyun was a bit of an outcast. Not the _sit-in-a-dark-corner_ type that’s normally associated with the word, he just… could never really _connect_ with his peers - or anyone for that matter, so he stopped trying. Which, all-in-all, made him a ( very unnecessary) target for teasing. 

Eventually, class was dismissed, and the now seventeen year old wanders the edge of Route 218, close enough to the city, but far enough from the hustle and bustle of it.

_Welp, it wasn’t the worst day so far…_ He chuckles to himself, _Just one more year of this._

Changkyun plops down under the shade of an oak tree overlooking the water’s edge and pulled out a sandwich; he munches on it while thinking about the day All the criticism, passive-aggressive comments, overall lack of support for his dreams and- yep, not even mom’s sandwich can save this one. 

A slight rustling from the bushes to his right manage to pull the boy out of his little pity party, he jumps back with a yelp when a wild Poochyena hops out and emits a low growl. 

Changkyun looks over the pup and blinks once. Twice. _Huh, this Poochyena looks a little… different._ Its coat shimmered like gold and copper under the midday sun, but the blue eyes glimmering with a hungry glare is what draws his attention. Changkyun felt… something for the pup. Pity? No, Changkyun wouldn’t want a stranger’s pity, he believes this Poochyena would feel the same.

_Ehh, let’s pick this feeling apart later…_ He concludes, putting that thought on the backburner. 

Despite himself, Changkyun held out the sandwich in the friendliest way he could manage, “H-hey there…” The boy hesitated, he is still mildly afraid the (barely) foot tall pup might jump, “Do you want some?” 

Changkyun tore his sandwich in half and held it out as a peace offering. The shiny Poochyena stalked forward with a clumsy gait, it was obvious the Pokémon was still young, but why was it all alone? Changkyun didn’t have much time to wonder before the Poochyena ripped the food from his hand and bolted. 

“W-wait!” Changkyun balked, the young pup already out of sight. He sighed, “Nice meeting you… I guess.” 

The Poochyena must have thought their meeting was nice too, because she - as Changkyun had come to learn - kept coming back to that spot everyday for a bite to eat; lingering around the young boy for longer intervals with each passing day. On the fourth day, the young Poochyena got a bit bolder and snatched the whole sandwich from the boy’s hand and made herself comfortable by his side. 

Half of Changkyun wanted to mourn the loss of his lunch, but the louder, more primitive half of him was screeching “I HAVE GAINED THE TRUST OF THE TINY FUR BABY!” And it was exactly that side of him that controlled the hand that went down to pet said fur baby. 

_Dear Arceus, I’m so lucky she didn’t bite my hand off..._

Poochyena leaned into the touch with a satisfied...gurgle? Changkyun has no idea what that sound meant, but he’s pretty sure she’s happy. The pair sat there under the shade of the oak tree, the gentle swaying of the branches and the chirps of assorted flying types created the soundtrack to their peaceful afternoon. But with this newfound affection, Changkyun still had something to ask.

“How come you’re all alone?” It’s a question that’s been sitting at the back of his mind for the past few days; it was odd considering Mightyena and Poochyena are rarely seen outside of a pack. He wasn’t expecting an answer (all things considered), so when she lowered her head with a whimper the boy could feel his heart break. Changkyun continued his gentle petting, completely melting when she moved her head to rest on his lap. 

“I’m alone too.” Poochyena tilted her head to catch the boy’s gaze. Call Changkyun crazy, but it was almost like every thought and feeling the two of them had was being conveyed through their eyes alone. In that moment Changkyun felt less alone, and he’s pretty sure Poochyena felt the same.

Everyday for the next week, Changkyun would bring a double serving of lunch (not without a quizzical eyebrow raise from his mother. “I’m a growing boy, mom! I need to eat!) and meet Poochyena beneath their tree. The pup would run circles around him until he finally took his seat on the plush grass, Changkyun couldn’t help but coo at her joy. 

“Okay, I got two sandwiches,” Changkyun started, “Beef,” He held up one bag with his left hand, “and double beef.” He raised his right. “You’re pick!”

Poochyena thumped her paws across Changkyu’s right thigh in a motion that could only be compared to light punching, he’s noticed it’s something she does quite a lot. 

“Figured you go for that one.” Changkyun chuckled and unwrapped the sandwich, a thought dawning on him. “Here you go! Some lunch for Punch!” The pup halted all movement and made a sound that resembled a frustrated groan before taking the sandwich from the boy’s hand.

“Did you just… disapprove of a pun?” Changkyun blinked.

Poochyena yipped through a mouthful of meat of bread.

“Well, sorry to tell you this, pal, but it looks like that’s your new nickna- DID YOU JUST ROLL YOUR EYES AT ME?!”

“Yip!”

“Tough luck, dear!” He chortled, booping her on the nose, “I dub thee Punch!” And she groaned as much as a Pokémon could, but not without giving Changkyun a lick on the finger.

It felt natural to bring Punch home with him that day, the pup even looked ecstatic when Changkyun asked! HIs mother, on the other hand, needed some convincing…

“But mom…!” Changkyun whined, holding the pup up so his mother could lock eyes with her. “Look at how sweet she is!” The boy pulled Punch a bit closer and whispered a “Quick, put some sauce on it!” 

Punch yipped happily and gave the skeptical mother a small lick on the nose. She sighed. How could she say no to that?

-

Changkyun stood across from Professor Rowan, he was hardly able to control the giddiness that was radiating from his being. Rowan went over - in painstaking detail - exactly how everything worked; from understanding the Pokédex to things that were, for the most part, outside his field of knowledge: like the League. Changkyun listened on in earnest, even though all this information has been steeping at the forefront of his mind for years. Truth be told, he wasn’t too interested in filling the Pokédex, he just wanted to roam and battle… maybe make a few friends along the way.

“And that concludes the introduction, now, if you have any questions, this would be the time to ask.” Rowan said.

Changkyun did have one.

“Do I have to start my journey in Sinnoh?”

“Hmm, Rowan paused, he’s never encountered such a question before, “I wouldn’t be recommended considering your Pokédex is-”

“Designed to catalogue Pokémon indigenous to the Sinnoh Region.” Changkyun finished for him; Rowan raised an amused brow. “That’s why I wanted to ask about Almia!” Changkyun had spent the last year doing (quite extensive) research on the different regions and their respective trainer’s tools, because no matter how hard he tried, Changkyun could not picture himself beginning his adventure - his dream! - in a place that made him think it was completely hopeless at times. 

“Almia? Rowan chuckled, “Never seen anyone want to got their, much less start there, but…” He trailed off in thought, “Almia _does_ have a near identical species count to Sinnoh… and we _did_ give that Issac fellow our Pokédex blueprints to build off of…” He huffed, “I don’t see why not.”

Changkyun beamed, “Thank you, sir!”

Rowan chuckled at the young man’s enthusiasm. “I’ll make a call just to be sure, but for now, let’s go pick a starter!”

“Um, actually, sir…” Changkyun stuttered, “I already have a Pokémon I’d like to start this journey with.” Changkyun felt reluctant to start with someone else’s Pokémon. He has Punch, and that’s all he needs right now.

“Very well then, good luck on your journey!” Rowan smiled.

-

“Welcome to Almia! Please watch your step as you exit the boat! And… watch your step on the beach.”

The announcement pulled Changkyun out of this little trip down memory lane with a jolt. He opened his eyes, sunlight filtering through his dark bangs… _Ugh, how long was I out for?_ Changkyun felt the excited little punches at his sneakers from his dear little Punch.

Changkyun swept the excited pup up in his arms and spun her around, “We are here, baby!” And then immediately blushed in embarrassment when he saw every person onboard (six people too many) staring at him with unhidden amusement.

Clearing his throat with a cough that did not highlight how awkward he felt _at all_ , Changkyun collected his things and swiftly exited the boat, nearly tripping over his feet as he made his way down the ramp. He counts it as a miracle he didn’t trip and eat sand… maybe coming to Almia helped break his clumsy streak? Arceus, he could only hope… 

Not even a second after that thought, the hopeful trainer was skidding across the sand with about as much grace as a Psyduck on ice. Needless to say, it was a sorry sight. But, despite the odds being stacked against him, Changkyun managed to stay on his two feet. He looked back at what he could have _possibly_ lost his foot on, because _this is a beach, why is it slippery?!,_ and found a trail of blue goop leading to a bashful looking Shellos. Upon further inspection, the whole beach was full of Shellos moving to and fro; hazardous trails of goo left in their wake.

_Ah...so that’s what “watch your step” meant…_ Changkyun peered down to see how Punch was handling the obstacle and… yep, she stepped in it all right; the disgruntled whine she let out told exactly how she felt about that. He scooped the pup up and whined along in understanding, it’s the only way he could stop himself from laughing at the poor Poochyena’s expense. She squinted, seeing right through the act. 

“Don’t worry, I’ll get you all cleaned up later.” The boy chuckled. Punch wiped her gooey paw on his black t-shirt clad chest and huffed. The attitude with this one, unbelievable - Changkyun pecked a kiss to her head regardless.

Changkyun somehow managed to clear the rest of the beach without further incident, thankfully. It wasn’t long until he was staring at a wooden sign standing proudly beside the worn dirt path that led him here. 

_Vientown: Home of Top Rangers!_ The sign read.

The new trainer could feel his heart hammer in his chest. He glanced down once more at Punch, still in his arms. She stared back at him with the same glimmer of uncertain excitement she gave him when Changkyun first befriended her. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath of that fresh Almia - willing his nerves down - before taking his first step into Vientown.

_Here’s to new adventures!_

But, of course, the first step he takes is into _someone_ … a milk carrier, the embroidered Miltank patch on his vibrant pink shirt (and literal crate of milk) told him as much… because the next thing Changkyun knows he’s on landing butt-first in the milk covered dirt, completely drenched in stuff, looking up at the broadest man he has _ever_ seen. The black-haired milkman looked like a towering giant from his current position; the sun cast shadows over his face in a way that made him seem like a pillar of wrath. 

Changkyun could only stare up at him, dumbfounded. So much for breaking that clumsy streak.

_Oh dear Arceus… already off to a great start…_

**……….**

In addition to those who chase after their dreams at break-neck speeds - never slowing down to look back- are people whose ambitions are overflowing, but circumstances have brought them to a stand-still. Circumstances differ from person to person: family situations, money… fear.

Those whose hearts lie in uncertainty just need an encouraging push in the right direction!

**……….**

To say that Hoseok was having a bad day would be a _grave_ understatement. Not only was he an entire half hour late for work at Miltank Farm (courtesy of one territorial Beedrill that refused to let him pass; he can’t wait for Beedrill season to be over) and received a firm reprimand from the elderly Big Bertha, but now he had to go and drop his last delivery of the day all over a guy and his… shiny Poochyena. _Huh, never seen one of those before…_ To be fair, the newcomer bumped into _him_ , but that’s no excuse for his flimsy grip on the case. 

“OH MY ARCEUS, I AM SO SORRY!” Hoseok yelped, as he bent over to help pull the stranger to his feet, but took a step back just as quickly when the Poochyena growled at him, the youngman looked up at him in befuddlement.

The milk-covered man placed a reassuring hand on the peeved Pokémon, the small pup seemed to visibly relax, but it still kept a trained glare on him. Hoseok couldn’t help but gulp.

“Please, don’t be… I should’ve watched where I was going.” The man said, in a voice much deeper than what he was expecting from a person his size. “Sorry about your… milk?”

“No no! Don’t worry about it, it’s fine!” Hoseok held out his hand again, which the man accepted; not without a huff from the Poochyena, though. The black-haired guy chuckled lightly.

“Sorry about Punch, she can be a bit protective.” 

Hoseok cooed despite the cocktail of anxiety and slight fear of the golden pup that was currently flooding his system. “I get it, I’d be upset if someone dumped a crate of milk all over my friend, too.” The man stifled a laugh. Hoseok felt relieved the other wasn’t angry.

“Are you new around here? I don’t recall ever seeing you… or a shiny Poochyena in these parts.” He chanced the question. 

“No, uh, I actually just arrived from Sinnoh…” The stranger seemed to recoil a bit, and was currently doing everything in his power to not make eye contact with him, and that was not making the weight of guilt he felt _any_ lighter, Arceus, he could feel a nervous sweat start to build. “Do you, uh, know where an inn is?”

After vaguely pointing the soggy lad towards the Chicole Village Inn, Hoseok fled without a word. Embarrassment being his prime motivator to carry his body back to the farm… and eventually to the door of the only person in town who could handle his outbursts.

“-and then I dumped milk all OVER him, and I never wanted to fade out of existence more in my entire _LIFE_!” Hoseok ran his hands over his face in sheer dread as he retold his disastrous afternoon to his dear friend… who is more or less awake at the moment. “Wonnie? You still with me?”

Hoseok’s childhood friend, and overall pain in his ass, Hyungwon, only groaned to signal that he was, indeed, conscious. 

“Yeah, yeah. You spilled your load on some guy and felt your soul leave your body. Did Bertha give you an earful for screwing around on the clock?” Hyungwon reiterated, sounding muffled from where his face was firmly planted in the fur of his just-as-sleepy Slaking… a truly exceptional pair if he’s ever seen one.

“DON’T SAY IT LIKE THAT!” Hoseok’s eyes bulged as he indignantly squawked. “But yes, Bertha yelled at me…” He shivered at the memory. The Strongest In Almia was a force to be reckoned with, even in her old age, and losing half a day’s profit was enough to constitute that wrath. Hyungwon chortled, the bastard… 

“You know…” Hyungwon drawled, moving himself into an upright position. Slaking acting as his personal recliner, much to the Pokémon’s displeasure, but then again, he was used to it. “If you’re so scared of your employer, you could just, I don’t know… quite?” Hoseok sighed, _here it comes…_

“It would give you a chance to join the Ranger School.” Hyungwon begun lazily counting on his hand, “Or become a trainer…” A second finger rose. “Travel other regions.” Hoseok rolled his eyes as the younger lifted a third. “Join the Hia Valley Research-”

Hoseok groaned, cutting the younger off, “Not to be dramatic, but I’d rather lie face-first in a puddle Muk sludge than live in Hia for a year.”

“Then what do you want to do?” The million PokéDollar question.

“I don’t know!” Hoseok could feel frustration fill his system. Is it _really_ his fault that wanting to do so much made him indecisive!? Well, okay… maybe he is all to blame, but he doesn’t like having it pointed out! 

Ever since he was young, there was so many things that caught his eye and brought him excitement, namely any and every thing having to do with Pokémon. From watching the heroism local exhibited all those years ago at Altru (and as they continue to do on a daily basis), to his more recent observations of young trainers who display such adventurous spirits. Even the prospect of backpacking across different regions and meeting the people and Pokémon of the land sounded just as exciting!

There was so much this world has to offer! In Hoseok’s valid opinion, it was almost unfair for him to have to choose just _one_ thing at a time to try. But if Hoseok is being perfectly honest, the prospect of _actually_ making a decision sounded too… permanent. 

What if he goes out there and finds everything to be lackluster in comparison to what he’s envisioned? Say he does become a Ranger or a Trainer… what if that life isn’t what he thinks it’ll be. Will he be able to come home and pick up his old life? Could he handle being alone? 

Hoseok’s never actually been alone before. Sure, he’s lived alone ever since his parents passes, but he’s always had his friends and neighbors by his side. He wouldn’t have that out there.

_Ah, great… I made myself sad again!”_

“Well, weigh your option.” Hyungwon lulled. “If you travel you can broaden horizons. A Ranger? You can broaden your horizons and befriend Pokémon.” The younger man smirked, “And, well, if you become a Trainer, you can get all that _and_ I get to kick your ass in a gym battle!”

Ah, that’s right. What with the perpetual laziness and overall indifferent demeanor, Hoseok has to remind himself that the man in front of him - that is currently bent over his Slaking in an attempt to work a knot out of his back…- is, in fact, the appointed Vientown Gym Leader.

“Ugh, you’re the worst!” Hoseok crossed his arms with a huff, trying his best to hold back the smile that was threatening to form. As irritating as Hyungwon may be, Hoseok can’t deny that he cheers him up, even if Hoseok happens to be the butt of his jokes seven times out of ten, “Speaking of battles, don’t you have to work or something?”

Hyungwon groaned as he arched over Slaking, arms stretched out to welcome another round of sleep, “No one has set foot through those doors for a battle in two weeks… even longer since I handed out a badge.” The gym leader sighed, “Almia isn’t exactly a booming place for trainers-”

“Yet,” Hoseok cut him off. He thinks back to all the new faces he sees daily at Nabiki Port, “Almia isn’t a booming place for trainers _yet_.” 

Well, they could be hopeful at least. It was no secret that Almia is fairly new to the “training game”, as Hyungwon likes to call it. The Almia League didn’t officially open until six years ago, the first gym to open its doors being in the up-and-coming metropolis of Altru City… not an ideal first location considering the geography of the land, but it worked… somehow. The remaining gyms followed soon after.

The League was used as an extravagant way to show off all the technological advancements Almia has made with its renewable energy source, discovered after - what is famously known as - Operation Brighton; almost a full two decades ago. 

It amazed Hoseok to no end how much Almia, his home, has changed in that time. New towns, a bustling city, new faces going to and fro. His world keeps getting bigger and bigger, he could see it, even though he rarely ventures past the Vien Forest; it fills his heart with a glimmer of pride. Hoseok wishes he had the courage to explore it all. 

Hyungwon shook his head with a chuckle, stroking lightly over Slaking’s furry belly, “You and your blind optimism.” 

“It keeps me going!” Hoseok beamed a smile and pulled himself to his feet. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a bunch of rowdy Miltank that need milking!” _Due punishment for his mishap earlier,_ Bertha had bellowed. He wasn’t about to complain, though. Only he would. A lot.

Hyungwon rolled his eyes. “ _If you’ll excuse me_ , you say that like you didn’t stroll in here and start lamenting.”

“And if anyone asks? I never did! Later!”

-

Let Hoseok go on record and say that wrangling five stubborn Miltank into a uniform line and milking them all is _not_ \- in any way, shape, or form - a grand ol’ time. Especially when his only co-worker, a local boy by the name of San, was m.i.a., but Hoseok knew damn well he was lounging around at the beach, that brat…

He walked out those barn doors for the evening with a fresh scolding from Bertha (he tripped over a hay bale and landed in a feeding trough… it would be funny if this was only the first time… but it wasn’t. These Pokémon were conspiring against him, he can feel it!) and the stench of farm life steeped into his soul. The only thing he wanted was to shower and lay face-first in a pillow… 

_Maybe I can just sleep in the bathtub? No, Hoseok. Your life hasn’t spiralled that far yet…_

It’s days like these when Hoseok really questions everything. Don’t get him wrong, he loves his life… to an extent. He could really go without the monotony that’s become ingrained in his daily life. Maybe Hyungwon was right… and San… and Bertha… and Crawford...okay, maybe _everyone_ was right. Maybe he _should_ step out of his comfort zone and experience the world, well, at least Almia… doing things alone was just too real? Difficult? Real difficult? Yeah, that’s the one.

_Ugh, c’mon Hoseok! You gotta-_

“You just gotta put yourself out there, buddy. You’re never gonna make any friends if you pretend to be a regular plant!”

“Yip!”

“I don’t like that sarcastic tone of yours, ma’am!”

Hoseok blink at the scene before him. Then blinked again, because he still couldn’t believe it. The third time may have been a bit excessive, but he had to be absolutely certain that the guy he dumped milk on was _actually_ sitting in a tree talking to a crying Seedot; his Poochyena balancing herself on his head. It was… a sight, that’s for sure. 

“Like, I’m not one to talk about healthy amounts of social interaction, but I know a problem when I see one- oh my Arceus, how long have you been standing there?!”

_Ah crap, spotted!_

“Um…” Hoseok shifted awkwardly. “Not long? I only heard about half of the pep talk.” _Yes, the nervous laughter is really helping the situation…_ “Is the Seedot okay?”

The other man blushed and stuttered a bit . _Not good at being put on the spot._ Hoseok noted.

“I think he’s okay?” He leaned over to the Seedot and not-so-quietly asked, “Are you okay?” The Pokémon nodded its… body… but it was still shedding tears like a river, “He’s just a little anxious…”

“Oh.” Hoseok eloquently said.

**……….**

_“Ah crap, he probably thinks I’m crazy!”_ Changkyun paled. He wasn’t expecting to see Mr. Milkman again today, or ever. So to be caught in a compromising position for the second time today by the same guy was a tad… embarrassing. 

“I don’t think you’re crazy!” The guy yelped, shaking his hands for emphasis.

_I can’t believe I said that out loud…! Quick Changkyun, you can save this!_

“Um, I feel like I should introduce myself now...?” Changkyun cleared his throat and waved. “I’m Changk- AH!” Waving was a horrible idea, because it threw off the balance he didn’t have to begin with. Next thing he knew he was tumbling out of the tree in the most Saturday cartoon way you could imagine. At least Punch landed safely… right on his face.

“HOLY SHIT ARE YOU OKAY!?” Buff Milkman cried. Changkyun could cry if he wasn’t trying to hold onto whatever strand of “cool” he still had left. 

_This fresh start isn’t feeling so fresh anymore!_

“Neba been betta.” Changkyun muffled through Punch’s soft fur, simultaneously plucking the “cool” from its root. He removed the pup from his face with a pained groan. Who knew falling ten feet from a tree could be so… painful, “Changkyun... I’m Changkyun.” He finally spit out, literally. There was stray Poochyena fur stuck in his teeth… smooth. 

The man knelt beside him and helped pull the pathetic lump of a man into a sitting position. Changkyun blushed for what felt like the forty-seventh time today. _He’s so close… and I’m so covered in fur, sweat, and milk...actually… he kinda smells worse than me._ And that made the situation a bit easier to handle for some reason. 

“I’m Hoseok!” He chirped, like he didn’t just witness all of… that. Changkyun was transfixed on the man’s smile, his whole face really. It’s almost like he was radiating sunshine and rainbows. Seriously, this guy had no business having such a baby face _with that_ brick wall of a body; what do they put in the milk around here-

“Um, are you sure you’re okay?”

_Can you maybe function like a normal person for once and not go down your Buneary hole of a brain?_ Changkyun scolded himself.

“Yeah! Sorry! I just got distracted?” Changkyun trailed off a bit towards the end there, hopefully he didn’t notice. “NIce to meet you Hoseok!” 

“It’s nice to meet you too, well, properly this time.” Hoseok chuckled, “I’m really, _really_ sorry about that by the way!”

Changkyun’s eyes widened, “No, don’t be!” He waved his hands, emphasising his frazzled state. “It was kinda my fault for not looking, but it turned out to be a good thing!” Hoseok raised an eyebrow in curiosity. 

Changkyun turned his attention to the Seedot still up in the tree, who currently looked as if he were having an epic internal battle to either stay put, or climb down to check on his new, clumsy friend. “That little baby up there wouldn’t have interacted with me otherwise.”

The Seedot darted behind some leaves at the sudden attention, which led to the small creature losing his footing and falling from the tree… right onto the crown of Changkyun’s head. Lucky for him, it didn’t hurt too much. Seedot - and Hoseok, this poor guy - however, looked horrified. Before the Pokémon could burst into a fresh set of tears, Changkyun picked him up and enveloped him in a hug.

“Are you okay, buddy? That must’ve been really scary for you.” Changkyun rubbed Seedot’s little back as he wailed into his shirt. He met Hoseok’s eyes as he stared back at him with an expression of awe, Hoseok was very easy to read. Changkyun felt a small surge of pride at the reaction. 

“This one was having trouble interacting with the other Pokémon,” Changkyun continued his retelling. “He couldn’t even get something to eat, he was too frightened of the other Pokémon around.” Hoseok frowned as he listened.

Changkyun giggles to himself as he thought back to Seedot waddling up to him. Changkyun was all hunched over, lost and wallowing in the aftermath of his arrival here. He must have looked like an oddly-shaped milk-scented rock (granted, he _did_ sit there motionless for a good twenty minutes, watching as Punch played with the forest Pokémon), otherwise, Seedot wouldn't have come near him; that much was obvious when Seedot jumped four feet in the air when Changkyun jolted at Seedot nibbling on his pant leg. He retreated up the tree and began acting like an inanimate acorn, oh how that brought back memories… Ten minutes and two failed tree climbing attempts later and here they were. 

Hoseok was giggling by the end of the fateful story, it was fascinating to hear such a light and airy sound come out of such a large man: Changkyun found himself giggling along with him. 

“You’re an interesting guy, Changkyun!” Hoseok said between laughter.

Changkyun froze, “How so?” He asked nervously. Because in his experience, _interesting_ always meant _weird_. Changkyun wasn’t sure if he was ready to hear that again.

“Like… how do I say it…?” Hoseok pondered. “The only people I’ve ever seen talk to Pokémon like that,” Changkyun raised a questioning brow, “the giving life advice thing,” Changkyun _ah’d_ in understanding, “are Rangers: I think that’s really cool! Are you here for the Ranger School?” 

_Huh, no one’s ever thought I could be something like a Ranger before… or cool…_

Changkyun couldn’t help but beam. “Actually, I’m a Trainer!” He set the now calm Seedot on the ground next to him, giving him one more gentle pat before standing up and brushing off his pants; the other man stood along with him, ready to support him in case he topples again. 

_Great, he thinks you’re clumsy...well…_

“Oh?” Hoseok sounded surprised. “How many regions have you been to? You said you’re from Sinnoh, right?” He sounded excited now. Wow, this guy is an emotion live-wire.

Changkyun rubbed at his arms, suddenly feeling self-conscious, he’s never had so much positive attention from… anyone before. Was he acting properly? Too much eye contact… not enough. Was he over-thinking? Oh, definitely. _Oh my Arceus, say something already! He looks concerned!_

“Yeah, I’m from Sinnoh, but, uh…” _Keep it together Changkyun, just like you practised in your head…_ “This is my first region as a trainer-”

Hoseok’s eyes lit up despite the lackluster reply before he happily rattled out another series of questions, “What part of Sinnoh? Why Almia? Are you from a city?-” _Oh goodness, this is overwhelming._

Changkyun took a reflexive step back with an “Uh…” Wow, he _really_ had no place giving Seedot advice on social interaction; Changkyun was _tanking_ right now. Hoseok must have noticed how uncomfortable he was making the other boy, because he his mouth almost instantly. 

“Oh no, I’m so sorry! I have a nasty rambling habit, I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable… I just never really talked to anyone from outside the area before and just… wanted to know what it’s like out there, you know? Traveling sounds really fun and wHY AM I STILL TALKING-”

“It-it’s okay!” Changkyun stuttered out, “I’m just not used to this…” He gestured vaguely, Hoseok look relieved, so the trainer carried on. “But, um, I’m from Jubilife City - so yes, I’m from a city.” Changkyun chuckled. “And I chose Almia because I needed a fresh start, if that makes sense.”

Hoseok’s eyes softened in understanding, “It makes perfect sense. I hope you enjoy it here.” 

Changkyun nodded, looked the taller man in the eyes and smiled; genuinely smiled, “I have a feeling I will.”

Yeah, this was the fresh start he was looking for. 

“Um, by the way…” Changkyun said, breaking the tender moment, “where’s the inn again?” He honestly felt dumb for asking again…

Hoseok’s eyebrows furrowed until realization seemed to slowly dawn on him, something eventually clicked.

“I NEVER SHOWED YOU WHERE THE INN IS!” Hoseok panicked.

“DON’T WORRY, IT WAS A VERY STRESSFUL AFTERNOON!” Changkyun panicked right back.

After what felt like a lifetime of fervent apologies and reassurances, the pair realized how ridiculous this back and forth was.

“Um, how about I show you to the inn!”

“I wouldn’t want you to go too far out of your way-”

“I live next door to it, actually!”

And Changkyun couldn’t resist the smile Hoseok gave him… if this whole interaction wasn’t so painfully awkward in some places, Changkyun would say this was a success!

“Well, in that case, lead the way.”

They got about five feet away from their previous standing before Changkyun felt something cling to his pant leg. To his surprise, it was Seedot. He knelt down to pick the Pokémon up once more.

“Hey there, again.” Changkyun chuckled, “Did you need something?” Seedot only blushed. _Aw~_ “Did you want to come along?”

Punch yipped excitedly, she seemed to enjoy Seedot’s presence, or, at the very least, was greatly amused by the smaller one’s antics, and was eager to see what else would unfold. That yip could mean anything, really.

Seedot nodded his little body as a way to say _“yes!”_ , and who was Changkyun to say no?

“Awesome! New Friend!” Changkyun hugged Seedot close, Punch jumped onto his shoulder to welcome the addition to their little group. 

“That’s… adorable.” Hoseok cooed, causing the new trio to make a collective flustered noise. 

The walk to the inn wasn’t that far, in fact, Changkyun could have found it all on his own if he just kept walking, but now is not the time to think about that! The inn itself looked fairly new, compared to older wooden homes around it, at least. It stood tall with washed-out red paint decorating the wooden exterior; a humble welcome sign hung on the door below bright yellow lettering reading: Chicole Village Inn.

“They serve pancakes for breakfast!” Hoseok said with a cheerful lilt, stopping beside the entryway, rocking on his feet a bit. The more time he spent with Hoseok ( which, in retrospect, was no more than half an hour) the more he realized he was a child trapped inside a Regigigas’ body. A very unique duality that Changkyun hadn’t realized was possible. 

“I guess I should get going,” Hoseok said, light pout on his lips, “get some rest, Mr. Trainer!” _Was that a wink?! Yeah, that was a wink._

_Find your words, Changkyun._

“You too!” _Arceus…_ “See you around?” _Stop…_

And to Changkyun’s surprise, Hoseok smiled and nodded before turning with a wave and final _“have a nice evening!”_ Hoseok was telling the truth when he said he lived right next door, because he disappeared behind the door of a humble little home moments later.

_What an interesting guy. A good kind of interesting._

-

Nothing is more refreshing than stripping off his milk and dirt stained clothes and hopping directly into a warm bathtub with his Pokémon! He sunk down to his nose and let himself get stuck in thought, he’s only been here a few hours and already he’s found a new Pokémon friend _and_ managed to hold a conversation with an actual person! 

Choosing to gloss over everything mortifying that’s happened, Changkyun is willing to say today was spectacular! But it was inevitable that said mortifying events resurfaced, and the next thing he knows he’s sinking further into the warm water to hide from his shame.

_May the bath water cleanse my sins._

Punch barked a _“don’t drown yourself, dummy!”_ sounding bark, to which Changkyun grumbled before fixing his posture. He pulled the pup closer and gave her fur a hardy scrub in retaliation, the grime from the day escaping into the water with each rub. 

“Goodness gracious, how did you collect so much dirt?” Punch only sighed in content, Seedot kicked his feet across the water to flee the runoff of dirt that was beginning to permeate; unfortunately, Seedot could only bob in place. Predictably, Seedots are quite buoyant… terrible at maneuvering, though. Changkyun chuckled and lifted the small Pokémon out of the mess. 

“Okay, looks like bath time is over…” Changkyun sighed, “remind me to spray you off next time.” He gave Punch a half-hearted glare. 

It was early evening by the time Changkyun towel dried the sentient acorn. Punch, however, decided shaking her fur out on the carpet was the better option. Changkyun has only had Seedot for two hours and he was ready to call him his golden child, because _good Pokémon don’t ruin perfectly nice flooring!_ Punch playfully stuck her tongue out.

Changkyun sighed, flopping face-first onto the mattress. Who knew spending all morning on a boat, followed by about two hours of wandering and talking (to an actual human person!), could be so… exhausting!? He groggily turned his head to the bed-side clock, it isn’t even six o’ clock yet.

“I know we just got here, but how do you feel about turning in for the nigh- oh, you’re already asleep…” He cooed at the sight of a sleeping Punch curled up around a drowsy Seedot, light snores filling the room like soft-playing music.

Changkyun smiled, he’s been dreaming of starting his Trainer career for years. Laying here now, in a whole new region, two Pokémon friends by his side, is making him feel a buzz of happy anxiety.

_Wait… I think this is genuine excitement._

“Rest up you two, we’ll start training tomorrow~”

**……….**

“Rock.”

“Paper.”

“SCISSORS!”

_Paper…_

“Haha! You get the forest today!” San cheekily grinned, snipping at the air between the two of them with his fingers.

Hoseok groaned. Delivering milk out to the few cottages deep in the Vien Forest -- during the summer, no less -- was just about the most unpleasant tasks this farm had to offer. Hoseok would gladly scoop and distributed Miltank than tote a crate of milk through the grossly inhabited forests. Arceus forbid he recreate the hellish Bidoof incident from last Spring.

“Oh come on, San!” Hoseok whined, “I did the forest three days in a row!” He pushed out his bottom lip to put some sauce on his pleas; maybe it’ll work this time?

“Are you asking me to break the sacred laws of Rock, Paper, Scissors?” San asked, feigning offence. “I thought you were a man of ethics!”

“If you can tell me what _ethics_ means, I’ll let this whole thing slide and never complain again.” Hoseok grinned back.

“Uh... “ San faltered. Hoseok laughed. “The bit’s not that deep!” Oh, how fun teasing younger is. But the fun didn’t last forever, unfortunately.

“WILL YOU TWO GET WORKIN’ ALREADY!? DAYLIGHTS A BURNIN’!” Bertha bellowed from her spot on the weather-worn porch, the two boys nearly jumped out of their skin at the rumble of her voice before standing upright in attention.

“YES MA’AM!” They shrilly saluted, because this woman truly dragged the fear out from the depths of their souls.

It was days like these that Hoseok wishes they had a Doduo to help with deliveries, because hauling two full crates (double order, gotta love those…) of milk-filled jars - in the unrelenting Summer heat - was _not_ a hay day… _I really need to stop saying the exact same thing every day…_ But it didn’t make it any less true. By the time he finished his milk trek through the forest, Hoseok was worn out; if he focused enough he could feel a muscle in his shoulder in his shoulder throb… _Yeah, let’s not think too hard about that right now…_

Hoseok couldn’t say it’s been all unbearable, though. Since meeting Changkyun, he’s been seeing the Trainer all over Vientown; running around the forest with his Pokémon, walking around Nabiki Beach… falling right into Shellos goo, going to and from the inn- _Oh my Arceus, I sound like a stalker…_

He’s seen him everyday for the past four days - all while on milk runs. Changkyun had a small smile and wave for him each time they crossed paths, if Hoseok was lucky they’d have a chat about how his training was going (Seedot is now brave enough to use tackle without crying, a big achievement based on the pride shining in Changkyun’s eyes), it made Hoseok’s days a little brighter. 

“SHINX! VEER TO THE RIGHT AND USE SPARK!” A small clearing mere meters away shown with a fizzling glow.

Speaking of brighter days.

Hoseok rounded the dirt path and found Changkyun amidst a battle with… an eleven year old girl; Jodie and her Cherubi, she lived across the road from him. The two looked enthralled with their current battle, Hoseok felt drawn in as well.

The Cherubi looked slightly disoriented from the sudden flash Shinx discharged; the small berry Pokémon shook itself to snap out of it, but Shinx was already on the move for a quick tackle. Hoseok flipped one if his empty crates and used it as a makeshift seat, but he only needed the edge! 

Of all the times Hoseok has seen Changkyun train with his Pokémon, this is the first time he’s seen him engaged in a battle! _This must be a serious battle!_ Punch not being out-and-about solidifying the thought.

“Ah! Cherubi, roll maneuver L!” Jodie squealed, Cherubi seemed to snap out of its momentary shock and made a quick roll to the left, evading the incoming Shinx.

“Huh.” Hoseok heard Changkyun say. He could tell Shinx was slightly confused as well, she looked to her new partner for instruction. 

_Looks like they still need some more practice together,_ Hoseok thought, fondly. Though he is surprised (not really) that they’re working as well as they are, considering they only met, what? Two days ago? Hoseok chuckled to himself, he was there when they met each other for the first time; it’s quite amazing, honestly.

-

Hoseok had just finished his delivery when he came across Changkyun while he was training with Punch and Seedot, the trio were lying in the grass, panting from exhaustion and the heat. 

“You guys look like you’re working hard!” Hoseok said with a cheerful chuckle. All three of them immediately shot up at the sudden voice, on alert, until Changkyun realized it was him and relaxed.

“You are really good at startling the hell out of me.” Changkyun airily laughed, smile stretched across his slightly reddened face; most likely the heat. 

“And _you_ look pretty hot.” Hoseok retorted, he didn’t realize how that sounded until Changkyun was wide-eyed and stuttered. “Oh no! I meant, like, because of the heat! I didn’t… I’ll just… stop talking now… Milk?!” Hoseok squeaked, shakily raising a leftover bottle from his run; how fortunate Ms. Song decided that four bottles was simply _too much_ _after all_ and politely declined the last bottle, it certainly was this awkward moment’s saving grace. Note the sarcasm.

Changkyun is still red in the face, but Hoseok is pretty sure it’s from embarrassment this time; his own face probably matched. Oh, how great it is… not having a way with words… 

“Um, sure!” Punch and Seedot watched carefully as the two humans looked at each through the air of awkwardness they managed to create within the three seconds of talking to each other; they shook their heads in second-hand embarrassment. They’re a lot of that flying around right now, that’s for sure.

Punch yipped in a way that said _“I’m actually begging you guys to do something other than look brain dead.”_ Hoseok likes to think he’s gotten good at discerning her sounds, he decided to take the golden furball’s implied advice and lowered onto the grass next to Changkyun and handed him the bottle of milk. The Trainer accepted it with a _“thanks”_ before cracking it open and splitting the contents into the tiny bowls he carries with him for his Pokémon. Hoseok chuckled as Seedot struggled to sip at his share.

“Here, let me give you a hand.” Hoseok tilted the bowl so the little acorn could drink, he made a sound of gratitude in response. He could see Changkyun smile shyly from out the corner of his eye, an expected reaction, but boy… did it make Hoseok feel giddy. 

What Hoseok wasn’t expecting, however, was a handful of other Pokémon to emerge from the forest looking for the source of milk scent wafting through the air.

A Wartortle, Bidoof, Aipom, and lastly, a Shinx; pouted up at Changkyun. The young Trainer whined out, “You guys are so cute, how can I say no~” Hoseok cooed at how Changkyun rocked back and forth from the cuteness overload he was evidently experiencing. He watched the younger pull two small cups and fill them with every last drop of milk. Changkyun so looked tranquil watching what he called his _“forest friends”_ happily enjoy their drink, despite not having any left for himself.

_He’s so... caring…_ Hoseok thought to himself, toothy grin on his face.

The forest Pokémon started returning to their homes as soon as the milk ran out, with bellies full and sounds of contentment filling the comfortable silence, but one remained. Shinx.

This Shinx in particular was smaller than most of the ones Hoseok has seen roaming around, in fact, he’d go on record to say this is the smallest Shinx _ever_ ; not only was it short in stature, it looked underweight as well. 

The Pokémon kept looking back and forth from the forest where the others scampered off to, and where Changkyun was seated; little creases of worry… stress… something… formed on its forehead. Hoseok switched his concerned gaze to Changkyun, he could practically hear the gears turning in his head, the frown on his face was telling enough.

“Hey there,” Changkyun said after a long moment of evaluation, he moved to lay on his stomach so he could be eye-level with the tiny Pokémon, “you look a little lost, are you okay?”

And the rest was history.

-

Changkyun snapped out of whatever thought he was lost in and called out to his Pokémon. 

“Shinx! Take a step back and use Charge!” 

Shinx complied immediately. Her small body glowed with electricity as she bounced from side-to-side to help build up the needed energy, but it left her wide open too; Jodie planned to exploit that.

“Roll through and blast through, Cherry!”

Cherubi did just that, it powered on through, moving at an incredible speed before lifting off the ground to release a powerful Energy Ball.

Changkyun smirked, “Light it up!”

Shinx growled in acknowledgement before unleashing Spark just as Cherubi closed in. The discharge was twice as bright and twice as powerful as the prior attack, Hoseok had to shield his eyes, but he was able to see Cherubi get blown back a good eight feet before rolling to a stop in front of Jodie, whose jaw was currently being acquainted with the ground. Cherubi was out.

Hoseok howled out a cheer causing the battlers to jump in surprise, they hadn’t known he was there, but Changkyun looked thrilled to see him.

Changkyun turned his attention back to his little champion, he rushed towards Shinx with the widest smile on his face. 

“SHINX~ You did so- OH MY ARCEUS!” Just as he cleared the final few feet, Shinx wobbled in her place… then fell face-first into the grass. Changkyun swept Shinx up in his arms and showered her with love, “You did so great, you little blue wonder!” He turned to young Jodie and thanked her for such a great battle, Jodie bowed in agreement. 

“I think I learned something from you,” Changkyun said, “I never thought about using code words for attacks before!”

“Well, yeah,” She giggled, “you don’t want your opponent to know what you’re gonna do, silly!”

“Hmm, makes sense.”

Hoseok waited for them to finish up their conversation on battle strategy before approaching the other boy, Changkyun smiled -- with much more confidence this time -- the second he saw him.

“Kyunnie, that was so awesome!” Hoseok cheered, bouncing around a bit to emphasis his excitement. “The way you led Shinx with so much swagger, and then, and then Shinx going fwoosh and boom,” he began gesturing wildly, “that was so awesome! _You’re_ so awesome!”

Changkyun blushed, his hands were too preoccupied to cover his face put the lovely pink hue on full display.

“T-thanks!” The Trainer chuckled nervously, clearly unsure of what to do with all this attention, “Did you just call me _Kyunnie_?” 

It was Hoseok’s turn to chuckle nervously, “Ah! Sorry… It just kind of slipped! I won’t-”

“I… kinda like it,” Changkyun grinned, “I’ve never had a nickname before…”

Hoseok beamed, “You got one now!” 

“If you two are done being weird, I’m gonna go to the Pokémon Center.” Jodie called from behind them, causing the two men to gap like Magikarps.

“Oh, that reminds me,” Changkyun said, returning the dazed Shinx to her Pokéball, “where is the Pokémon Center?”

Hoseok blinked.

“You’ve been here for five days and you don’t know where the Pokémon Center is?” Hoseok is trying _really hard_ to hold back his laughter.

“Don’t laugh at me,” The younger whined, “It’s not like it’s clearly marked or anything!”

_Okay, that’s fair…_

“Come on,” Hoseok said through broken chuckles, “I’ll show you where it is!”

**……….**

Changkyun looked up at the building in front of him and read the sign four times over. In big, bold, lettering: **_Vientown Ranger Depot_ ** . And Below it, in much tinier print: _ & Pokémon Center!!! _. With three exclamation points.

“The Depot and Pokémon Center are under the same roof? How does that work?” Changkyun dumbly asked.

“Very carefully!” Hoseok chirped, “We’re still new to the whole training thing, you know?” 

“I thought the Almia League was established six years ago?”

“Shhh, don’t think about it too much~”

_Okay then…_

Hoseok held the door to the Depot open and beckoned him in. Changkyun wasn’t sure what to expect upon walking in, but a near brawl amongst the Area Rangers was not on the list.

“Hongjoong, I swear to Arceus, if you don’t give me back my tweezers, I will strangle you with my socket wrench!” A girl with grease smeared across her cheek waving an equally oil-stained wrench yelled. She must be the Mechanic… and a very pissed off one at that. She pointed her weapon at another Ranger with a mullet, who was currently focused on doing his eyebrows in the reflection of a spoon… 

“Bold of you to assume you could even reach my neck, Soojinnie~” The Mullet Ranger, Hongjoong, replied, flicking his wrist every so slightly to balance out his brows.

“You’re only 5’7”, bitch!” Soojin screeched, “Stop ruining my work tools!” 

“Uh… Crawford…” Hoseok nervously addressed a much older Ranger, who was sitting at a small table with his feet kicked up, calmly sipping his morning coffee amidst the chaos. His mass of hair wobbling as he turned his attention to Hoseok, “They’re at it again.”

_Again?!_

Crawford sighed, he set his cup down and covered it with a paper, “Rosie, you know what to do.”

A Roserade popped up from behind Crawford and landed elegantly on the table. It stretched its flower-clad hands and spun in slow circles, a light haze drifted out into the open air; and almost instantly, Soojin and Hongjoong were struck paralyzed.

_Oh? Stun Spore… it was very effective._

“Thank you very much, dear.” Crawfors said, “Jinnie, Joongie. What did I tell you about arguing while on duty?”

The pair hummed and grunted the best they could in their paralyzed state.

“That is correct! So how come I’m seeing what I’m seeing right now?”

Another set of incoherent sounds filled the room.

“Uh huh, and what are you going to do about it?” 

One more round of noise.

“Apology accepted,” Crawford smiled, “Minnie!” He called out. A young woman with a sleepy gaze popped her head up from behind the reception counter, eyebrows quirked in a silent question. “Can you grab two bottles of Paralyze Heal?”

She only groaned in response before chucking two bottles at Crawford without looking in his direction, the man caught them with ease. He took a bottle in each hand and sprayed down his team. 

_Oh yeah, this was definitely a routine thing._

The two Rangers inhaled deeply once freed from their little spell. Hongjoong slid the tweezers across the table with a mumbled _“sorry”_.

Soojin accepted them back and apologized as well, “Sorry for threatening to strangle again…”

_AGAIN?!_

“Awesome, love that teamwork!” Crawford clapped, he stood up and turned his attention to Hoseok. “HoHo! Nice seeing you again!” He noticed Changkyun standing right behind him, the trainer shuffled awkwardly under his gaze. “And you brought a friend! Didn’t know you had any!”

“HEY!”

“What’s your name, kiddo?” Crawford inquired, leaning closer, as if the answer will quell his curiosity forever. The other three Rangers had their attention tuned into him as well.

_Don’t lose face now, Changkyun!_

“Uh… Changkyun.” He really wasn’t great at being put on the spot, and it shows. Hoseok must have sensed his uneasiness, because he was quick to speak up for him. 

“Kyunnie here is a new Trainer in the area! He also has an injured Shinx in need of healing! Minnie?” He batted his eyes at the woman behind the counter, “Can you please help my friend out?” 

_He just called you his friend!_ Changkyun screeched. 

“Of course, bring ‘em on over!” Minnie said, making grabby hands at the young Trainer. Changkyun stepped up and placed Shinx’s Pokéball on the counter, he watched as she took the ball and put it on the healing machine, handling it with the utmost care; that helped put Changkyun’s frazzled mind at ease a bit. 

In a lame attempt to break the ice, he decided to try his luck asking a burning question from earlier, “So, how come the Depot and Pokémon Center are in the same building?” Minnie blinked at him.

_Uh oh… was that a taboo question around here? Is that why Hoseok brushed it off earlier? Did he offend them-_

Then she snorted a laugh, “You think too loud.” Changkyun gulped, at least he didn’t say all that aloud this time. “Vientown’s a small village. There wasn’t a lot of space left after we built the gym, and we sure as hell weren’t clearing any trees - we love our forest too much.” She paused to adjust a few settings on the machine, then leaned back on the counter, “That and we got, like, no funding for a proper center, but honestly? We all enjoy the extra work.” She finished with a blinding smile, Changkyun couldn’t help but smile back.

_Yeah, that made sense._

“You’re looking much livelier today, Mr. Lee. What’s got you so happy?” Hongjoong asked, poking at Hoseok’s puffed out cheek. The topic grabbed Changkyun’s attention.

Hoseok stifled a laugh and brushed Hongjoong’s hand away, “You don’t have to be so formal, kid, haven’t we talked about this?” He ruffled Hongjoong’s hair, successfully messing it up (much to the younger’s displeasure), “And I literally have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“He probably _finally_ made some traveling plans.” Soojin stage whispered.

“Doubt it, he’s gonna take a stint as a boat captain!” Hongjoong threw in.

“Nah, he’s gonna be a Hippowdon Temple tour guide.” Minnie added on to the joke everyone seemed to be in on, judging by the way Hoseok sighed, at least. Changkyun was curious. 

“Okay, quit teasing the poor boy-” Crawford dismissively waved. 

Hoseok grinned at the three younger Rangers as if to say _“Hah! What now?!”_

“He’s obviously moving to Hia to become a Piplup breeder - his one true calling!” The elder finished. Hoseok made a sound of betrayal as the Rangers collectively burst into fits of laughter, which made Changkyun laugh; despite not knowing what the hell was going on.

“Seriously, kid, you gotta do _something_ , you’re wasting away here.” Crawford’s mood seemed to take a turn, the vibe of the room shifted to one of seriousness. Hoseok’s smile dropped immediately; Changkyun felt a familiar, yet unfamiliar tug at his heart. 

“Um… is it okay if I ask what the joke here is?” Changkyun spoke up. He has a friend now - apparently…- and that friend was visibly upset… he wanted to understand why. Hoseok’s eyes met his and they softened, but it was Soojin to answer. 

“Oh, this one?” He’s been talking for years about how he wants to do… stuff.” She gestured vaguely. 

“Yeah, he’s thrown around so many ideas,” Minnie added, “Ranger School, Traveling, Training, you name it; but he’s never stepped foot past the forest to start anything.”

Hoseok’s shoulders slumped, “I’ve been to Pueltown before…”

“Once. And it was for half an hour. Nine years ago. That doesn’t really count.” Crawford sighed, “You’re a good kid with an adventurous soul, you can’t stay cooped up in this little town forever.” He rested his a firm hand on Hoseok’s broad shoulder. “You gotta put yourself out there.”

_You gotta put yourself out there…_

Those words echoed the ones Changkyun told his Seedot a few days ago.

“It’s just so… daunting… to go out there alone.” Hoseok pouted, clearly dejected. Changkyun could sympathize, big ambitions aside, he doesn’t think he’d ever muster up the courage to take the first step if hadn’t had Punch by his side.

Maybe that’s why he’s about to say what he’s going to say.

“Do you want to come with me?”

Hoseok paused for a second and processed what Changkyun just said. When his brain finished loading, his mouth dropped in an attempt to find an answer.

Changkyun could feel panic bubble through his system.

_Oh no… what have I done?_

“No pressure to say yes or anything! I was just thinking I’m new here, and you want to explore, maybe it’d be fun? AHHH, BUT WE HARDLY KNOW EACH, THIS MUST SOUND SUPER CREEPY, I’M SORRY JUST IGNOR-”

“Yes.”

“What?”

“I’ll go with you.” Hoseok’s voice was small, but it was determined; an underlying tone of excitement punctuating it. Changkyun felt his mind whirr. Even though he was the one who asked he was still caught off guard, but he couldn’t help but smile. He held out his hand for the older. No turning back now.

“Then let’s do it!” Changkyun declared, “After I beat the Vientown Gym, we’ll head out there together!”

Hoseok’s smile bloomed once again, all the way up to his eyes this time. He took Changkyun’s hand in glee, shaking it firmly. “Together!”

“Oh it’s about fucking time!” Soojin groaned, the touching moment successfully ruined. Hongjoong, however, rubbed his hands together in delight.

“Pay up, Minnie!”

Minnie sighed and pulled out her and slapped a twenty on the counter, passing it to the giddy Ranger.

“YOU WERE BETTING ON WHEN I’D LEAVE?!” Hoseok howled in disbelief, dropping Changkyun’s hand and rushing at the younger. Hongjoong yelped as he was thrown over Hoseok’s broad shoulder with little resistance. 

“Not all of us! Soojin thought you’d never leave!” Hongjoong squealed. Hoseok switched his gaze to Soojin. The Mechanic audibly gulped. Hoseok charged and threw her over his other shoulder and shook them with all his might.

_Wow…_ Changkyun knew Hoseok _looked_ stronged, but watching the soft man with the even softer heart _actually_ throw two grown people over his shoulder was… something else… 

“You little brats!” He tried his best to sound angry, but it came out as more a strangled laugh. Changkyun marveled at his duality. 

Crawford sighed, fond grin painting his features, “Rosie, dear, please do your thing.”

As the three childish adults hit the ground, Changkyun felt a foriegn feeling squeeze at his heart.

_Huh, so this is what genuine happiness feels like._

**……….**

You see, when people are able to spread their metaphorical wings and take to the skies and explore every centimeter of the dream they mapped out in their head, they discover a multitude of things in this phenomenal world of ours, but it’s the adventures that allow us to discover ourselves that are the most precious. 

Our heroes joining hands in the name of friendship and solidarity is where _our_ adventure truly begins. 

Onwards! To new adventure!


	2. The Vientown Gym

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Changkyun takes on the Vientown Gym and Hoseok proves himself to be the best damn cheerleader Almia has ever seen!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw for minor descriptions of blood

_“Do you want to come with me?”_

_It was a question spoken so softly, Hoseok had to play it over in his head several times to make sure he heard the young Trainer correctly. He had._

_About a hundred different thoughts and emotions stirred like a whirlwind inside him, because he was given a choice. He could say no. Hoseok could say no and stay in this town for who knows how long; maybe forever. He could say no and watch these kids - Jodie, Hongjoong, Soojin, Minnie… all of them - grow up and start to venture out into the world from where he sits on the milking stool in the barn of Miltank Farm. Hoseok could say no and watch Changkyun leave._

_Changkyun…_

_Hoseok is still zoned out at the moment, but he can still hear the boy start to ramble. He’s only known Changkyun for a few days, but he’s left such an impression on Hoseok’s heart, almost like he’s known him forever. Changkyun may be inexperienced and timid by nature, but the clear passion he has for Pokémon is awe-inspiring… it makes Hoseok want to pick up his feet and travel down a path unknown._

_Hoseok could say yes and finally leave his little corner of the world._

_Hoseok could say yes and be forced to face all his nagging fears head on._

_Hoseok could say yes and not have to face everything alone. He looks at Changkyun all flustered and stuttering, he could feel his heart thud in his chest… how could he say no to him?_

_“Yes.”_

_Hoseok has never been so sure of anything in his entire life._

**……….**

Light dawns on a new day for our heroes! A new day that brings unprecedented motivations for one, and new challenges for the other. Let’s see how the former is doing right now! 

**……….**

“SCREE SCREE”

Hoseok bolted upright from where he was sleeping in bed, getting tangled in his sheets and falling out of bed completely. The disgruntled man looked up at his window from where he was pathetically sat on the floor and stared up at the culprit of his rude awakening. And, of course, it was that damn Starly again. The Pokémon in question looked Hoseok dead in the eyes, cocked its little head to the side, then let out another ear splitting screech.

“You do this every morning! What do you gain from it!?” Hoseok screeched back, effectively shooing the flying type away… for now; it’ll be back tomorrow… unfortunately. Hoseok chanced a glance at the alarm clock that sat idly on his nightstand. 6:32A.M 

_Yup. No use going back to sleep now._

His shift at the farm starts in an hour, and Hoseok would rather be early and tired over late and scolded, so he staggered to his feet with a tired groan and grabbed his uniform off the chair he threw them on haphazardly the night before, because he couldn’t be damned to properly hang up the bright pink shirt and navy blue shorts. Should he dare do a sniff test… he took a whiff anyway and regretted it immediately, but hey, it’s the middle of Summer and he works at a farm, he’s surprised they didn’t smell worse. 

The sun had completely risen by the time he walked out his door and began his trek into town, and was blazing relentlessly as he walked into the barn. San greeted him with a wave and something that sounded like _“good morning”_ , but he wasn’t too sure because it was muffled by a yawn. Hoseok threw a yawn right back at him before joining him at the bottling station, where today’s load is just getting started; it looks like San was able to knock out ten whole bottles… forty more to go!

“I was thinking,” Hoseok started as he placed the last bottle in his crate, “how about I take the forest route today.” San stopped packing up his crate and looked at him like he sprouted a second head. 

“But you’ve offered to take the forest route three shifts in a row already.”

“Yeah, and?”

“You hate the forest route!” 

“It’s not all bad…” Hoseok blushed lightly, realization seemed to dawn on San. 

“Riiiiiiiight, it’s _not all bad_.” He smirked, “Totally has nothing to do with that Trainer guy doing his Trainer thing out there, huh?” San burst out laughing as the pink tint flooding Hoseok’s cheeks darkened in pigment. 

There was nothing Hoseok could say to defend himself, because he wasn’t _wrong_ ; so he just packed up his crate a bit faster and hauled ass out of the barn with a wave to Bertha to signal he was off - the high-pitched laughter courtesy San following him all the way out. 

Being excited to see Changkyun aside, though, Hoseok found he couldn’t really complain about the forest runs anymore. Not that the weight of the forty pound crate of dairy didn’t magically stop crushing his shoulder, but because it _didn’t_ overwhelmingly crush his soul anymore! Having something to look forward to really made him feel… lighter, like nothing could put a damper on his mood! Not even the swarm of Beedrill that has been stalking him since he entered the forest! Thankfully he has this good mood to help snuff out the mortal fear! 

_Something to look forward to…_

The thought makes Hoseok giddy with excitement! He’s been dreaming about venturing out for years, and now that day is looming ever closer, but instead of the anxiety he thought he’d be feeling, was a peaceful calm… which is interesting because Hoseok hasn’t known calm for a single arceusdamn moment of his life. 

The added thought of going out there with Changkyun is what’s keeping him from completely losing his mind. It’s almost unreal how fast they’ve become friends. Maybe it only seemed unreal because he hadn’t made a new friend since he was… what? Ten? Let’s gloss over how sad that sounds… Point is: Hoseok is happy things are going smoothly!

He’s been spending all his extra time getting to know Changkyun the best he could, and so far - what Hoseok has gathered- is that the young Trainer is: kind-hearted, shy, ambitious, and oh so clumsy. 

Take yesterday for example. Hoseok had the day off and decided it would be a splendid idea to bring lunch down to the group… because another thing about Changkyun is that his preparedness skills are lacking and was always forgetting to bring food because of it.

Changkyun had greeted him that morning with a wild smile plastered across his face -- already expecting the arrival of his new friend -- as he held up what looked like a large fishing pole. 

“Look what a nice older gentleman kindly bestowed upon me!” Changkyun brandished the pole like the mighty tool he thought it was. The best thing about spending time with Changkyun, by far, has been seeing every facet of his personality crawl out of its industrial-sized shell. Hoseok has decided that Changkyun’s smile and goofy turn-of-phrases were some of his new favorite things. Especially the groan and slight eye roll from the golden pup that often accompanied all his dorky comments; Hoseok found it endearing.

“A fishing pole!” Hoseok stated, chuckling at how excited the younger is. 

“It’s a fishing pole!” Changkyun enthusiastically repeated, “Now, how about we take that lovely little lunch basket,” he waved a circle with the fishing pole at the picnic basket being cradled in Hoseok’s large arms, “down to the river and enjoyed some sun and fun!” 

Probably the most important thing Hoseok has learned, though, is that he can’t say no to that man’s smile. 

So there they were, sitting on a small dock right off the Vien River, feet splashing in the water along a sturdy fishing line; lunch long finished. The duo shared laughter as they watched Punch and Shinx frolic around the shallows of the riverbed, trying (and failing) to get Seedot to join in on the fun. The small acorn retreated further into his place on Changkyun’s lap, trembling at the idea of stepping foot in the water - which was probably warranted, the small pup and cub have proven themselves to be quite the mischievous pair.

Hoseok gave him a gentle pat on his little shell, Seedot hummed in content. Seeing Seedot also come out of his shell -- emotionally, of course. It would be terrifying if it were physical -- and transform from a Horribly Anxious Mess to just a Somewhat Anxious Mess has been an incredible thing to witness.

“You’ll get there eventually, buddy, don’t worry.” Hoseok cooed, giving him a scratch behind the stem. Changkyun chuckled as the Pokémon sang in delight; the fishing pole beside Changkyun started to shake soon after, the boy’s face lit up in joy, “I think I got something!” He grabbed hold of the rod and began to reel in his catch with... some difficulty. The rod began to bow with the strain of his catch.

“It’s a big one!” Changkyun yelped, he was clearly unable to keep up with the fight this creature was putting up, “Okay, I don’t think i got it…” He grit through his teeth, lines of concentration forming on his forehead. “Hoseok, can you help me- AHHHHH!”

Hoseok didn’t have a chance to lend aide, because the Trainer and his Seedot were pulled into the water below them. The older tried really hard to fight back the laughter that spilled over, but that yelp was _too_ priceless. Hoseok stayed laughing like that until Seedot popped back up to the surface and bobbed in place, then he realized… Changkyun hasn’t come back up yet. He wiped a stray tear from the corner of his eye from the laughing fit, “Changkyun?”

No answer

“Come on, Changkyun, not funny…”

Still nothing. Punch and Shinx howled in distress as they hopped around the shallow looking for their partner, even Seedot was trying to peer into the water to look for him. Hoseok felt his heart drop to the pit of his stomach.

“CHANGKYUN?!”

Next thing Hoseok knew, he was diving into the river and pulling the boy (and Seedot) out to the riverbed, his Pokémon circled the pair in concern.

Changkyun nearly coughed up a lung trying to get all the water out of his system, Hoseok pat his back lightly to assist.

“What happened?” Hoseok asked, “Did the Pokémon keep you under?”

Changkyun flushed, “Um, actually…” he’s stuttering now.

_Aw, he’s embarrassed, how cute~_

“I can’t swim.”

_Never mind_ _. Not cute!_

“And you went _fishing_?!” 

“I didn’t think I’d fall in!” 

“You have to at least be _prepared_ to!”

What the man lacks in preparedness he makes up for in blind optimism. They’re quite alike in that respect. That reminds him, though… Teach Changkyun how to swim…

Before Hoseok even realized, he had distributed the last bottle of milk to a very happy recipient. Hoseok peaked into the crate and sighed in relief when he saw three leftover bottles tucked in the corner. Hoseok’s made a habit of purchasing extra for himself and the quartet, it always came in handy, too. He’d always come across them just as they were finishing up their training for the morning… which was a lot more intensive than Hoseok could ever imagine.

Changkyun always went the extra mile with them: endurance runs (which more often than not ended with the Trainer carrying Seedot over the makeshift finish line), mini obstacle courses, you name it... Hoseok’s not sure what he was expected to come with the Trainer title, but when he saw Hyungwon train he’d just-... On second thought, maybe Hyungwon wasn’t the best example to build a comparison off of. 

Hoseok had no trouble finding the Trainer in the thick mass of forest, he just had to listen for the sounds of happy screeching and/or chaos and there he was!

“You got this, Punch! Just focuuuuuuuus- Perfect!”

 _Found him~_

And of course, the sight he’s greeted with once he rounded that corner is anything but predictable. Changkyun was sat on the grass throwing acorns in the direction of a… blindfolded Punch… who was dodging them with ease!

“Okay, baby, try hitting them now!” Changkyun encouraged, to which the tenacious Poochyena attempted, but didn’t have much success. The pup whined in frustration as an acorn landed softly on her nose.

“Alrighty, that’s enough of that for now. Let’s take a break, great job, Punch!” Changkyun chuckled before crawling over and removing the blindfold; Hoseok saw this as a good chance to make his presence known. 

“I’m not exactly sure what you’re doing, but it looks like you’re working hard!” The older said.

Changkyun and Punch turned their heads and welcomed the man, a much warmer response than his shriek of mild terror that was present for their first few meetings, It was a heart-warming change.

“Oh, you know, just some predictive training with the fur baby.” He said it like it was the simplest thing ever, but Hoseok was lost on the whole training thing to begin with, so he cocked his head and raised an eyebrow; hoping the younger would elaborate. Changkyun chuckled again and gave the ground next to him a pat, inviting Hoseok to sit.

“Well, to put it simply,” The Trainer wasted no time in explaining, “Poochyena have an incredible olfactory system. Noses of a god, if we want to make a comparison; and don’t get me started on how great their hearing is, we’d be here all day.” Hoseok chuckled at that, “With that in mind, I wanted to train those senses of her’s, considering she never got a chance to hone them in the wild.” 

“How come?” Hoseok interrupted, clamping his lips together after realizing that _probably_ wasn’t okay to ask.

Changkyun frowned, “Punch has been with me pretty much her whole life. I think she was alone before we ever met.” He pulled the pliant pup onto his lap and gave her coat gentle rubs, “I’m not sure why, because Poochyena are very pack-dependent, but I have a feeling it’s because she’s… different looking. Since she didn’t experience life in a pack, she didn’t learn all the survival tips and tricks, so to speak.”

Hoseok reached out and gave the pup a scratch behind the ears, to which she… gurgled? That’s such an odd sound, but she was clearly content, “That’s what you’re doing here? Replicating those tips and tricks?” 

“Yup!” Changkyun grinned, his mood lifting back to its cheery state, “Well, trying to at least, but she’s making incredible progress!” He laughed, raising Punch up over his head and shaking her gently, she looked completely passive… almost as though this happens so often she’s learned to just roll with it. The thought greatly amused Hoseok.

“Backstory aside, I figured the best way to work on her other senses would be to blindfold her.” The Trainer concluded.

“Like they do in those training montages in older martial arts films?”

“Exactly like those training montages in older martial arts films.” Changkyun repeated back, smile on his face, Punch still high above his head. “She’s gotten great at picking up smaller sounds, but I’m not sure how much the scent aspect of all this is going.” Changkyun lowered Punch back down until her paws met the grass.

“If her hearing is so great, how come you guys are always surprised to see me?” Hoseok curiously asked. Punch stuck her tongue out at him and he immediately had his answer. Changkyun huffed out a laugh.

“I think she just likes to ignore you.” 

“If only she could talk, then you’d know exactly how much she’s really picking up.” Hoseok supplied, electing to _ignore_ that comment, holding his arms out to beckon the ball of copper and gold to come to him. She only turned her nose up and hopped back into Changkyun’s lap. 

_The tsundere nature of this one, I swear…_

“I don’t think I’d be able to handle the amount of sass that would come pouring out of her muzzle.” Changkyun sighed, “You gotta start being nice to him, you’re gonna be seeing a lot of him…” He mumbled to her under his breath, that made Hoseok’s heart squeeze.

“Oh, she’s gonna love me a whole lot here in a second.” Hoseok hummed, reaching into his crate and pulled out a bottle of fresh, crisp milk. Punch perked up and started thumping her tail and paws against Changkyun’s thigh. 

“This is bribery!” Changkyun laughed out, swiping at Hoseok’s bicep with soft punches. It’s amazing how similar these two’s actions are; it’s charming, really.

Hoseok uncorked the bottle and smirked, “But it’s working.” The pup barked in glee. She jumped out of the Trainer’s lap and ran circles around the milkman before sitting politely in front of him, head tilted and tongue out; the very picture of obedience. “Can you pass me a bowl, Kyunnie? If I wait any longer she may bite my hand off.”

Changkyun pulled out three bowls from his bag and handed them to Hoseok, “Oh, you don’t have to worry about that. The worst you’ll get is a severe maiming.” He deadpanned.

“That… sounds like something you’ve experienced…”

“Not me, but rest in pieces to Johnny’s thumb.” A brief moment of silence followed. Hoseok glanced to the excited Poochyena, pleading with her to never try. Changkyun then took the other Pokéballs off his belt and let Shinx and Seedot join their little milk party too. They let out immediate cheers upon seeing their lunch flow into the dishes in front of them.

Once all the Pokémon were enjoying their meal to the fullest, Hoseok popped the remaining two bottles and passed one to the awaiting Trainer, who accepted with a small _“thanks”_.

“Ya know,” Hoseok spoke up, “I think the thing I’m gonna miss the most here is the milk.” Changkyun laughed.

“Just the milk?” He mused.

“Eh, I’ll miss the people, I suppose.” Hoseok playfully jeered, “But the milk? Best in Almia. Me and my bones will miss it dearly.”

“How can you be sure it’s the best if you’ve never tried any others?” 

“Hm, point taken. I’ll just have to try the milk from every place we stop at, so when I come back I’ll be able to tell Bertha nothing compares.”

Changkyun’s eyes crinkled with a smile, “That’ll be pretty soon.”

“Really!?” Hoseok perked up.

The Trainer nodded, “Yup! I plan on challenging the Vientown Gym tomorrow!”

_Tomorrow?!_ Well, it has been a little over a week since his arrival, Hoseok supposed. But Hoseok _knew_ this was going to be a tough battle, afterall, Chae Hyungwon wasn’t just any Gym Leader. He was the first Trainer to challenge _and_ beat the Almia League. Hyungwon was a cocky guy with a major arrogance streak, but he had the experience and reputation to back his attitude; so much so that the position of Gym Leader was offered to him when the original Gym Leader retired. He’s a force to be reckoned with, but Hoseok had no doubt that Changkyun could beat him.

“It’s going to be quite the challenge,” Hoseok honestly said, “I’ve known Hyungwon for years - he’s my best friend, actually - he’s absurdly tough. His win-lose ratio is three-ten-”

“Not… feeling encouraged…”

“Shhh,” Hoseok playfully shushed, placing his whole hand across Changkyun’s face, “let me finish!”

“Anyway, his win-lose ratio is three-ten, but you have such an amazing bond with your Pokémon, I’m sure you’ll knock him off his pedestal… Don’t tell him I said that.” Hoseok finished. He removed his hand from the other man’s face to reveal that signature shy smile. 

“You really believe in me?” He asked softly. 

“Of course!” Hoseok answered truthfully, small smile to match.

“Thank you…” Changkyun paused for a moment, opening his mouth to say something, but closing it almost instantly. Hoseok nudged his shoulder to coax out the comment.

“Will you- no, would you- and don’t feel obligated to say yes… come watch the match tomorrow? The Trainer was blushing and stammering all over the place - Hoseok found it cute, but Punch and Shinx looked exasperated (it’s amazing how Shinx is accustomed to this already), Seedot bumped Changkyun’s knee in awkward solidarity; his mood seemed to lighten. If Hoseok was being honest with himself, he’s surprised Changkyun even wants him there, but the fact he does makes his heart feel full.

“You… actually want me there?"

“Yeah!” Changkyun shrilled, before clearing his throat and bringing it down an octave, “Yeah, you’re my friend… and future travel partner… I’d like to share that victory with you.”

Hoseok’s heart did a backflip. The man in front of him, his friend, was being so open and honest with his feelings; Hoseok couldn’t help but feel so… so… _touched._ He had to will his heart back into a normal rhythm. 

“I’ll be there.” He held out his fist to seal the deal. Changkyun happily reciprocated. “So… you’re prepared for victory, huh?” Hoseok smirked.

“Oh hush, my _amazing bond with my Pokémon_ ensures it!” Changkyun huffed in amusement.

**……….**

“Paralysis Heal?”

“Got it.”

“Awakening?”

“Yup!”

“Persim Berries?”

“Uh…” Changkyun pat down the side of his backpack and felt the firmness of the fruit in question, “all accounted for!”

“Okay, that’s everything on your list. You sure this is all you need?” Hoseok asked, raising a brow. Changkyun would like to say he’s prepared enough, but if he’s being honest with himself, he isn’t entirely sure.

_Oh well, let’s not overthink this too much…_

Changkyun glances over at the man sitting across from him, well, more like lying across from him. They were at their usual spot in the forest and going over everything he’ll need for his upcoming gym battle today. Changkyun rifled through the contents of his backpack while Hoseok reads off a carefully crafted list of all his essential battle items, and it seems like he has everything.

“It should be enough.”

“You don’t sound so sure.” Hoseok teased, lazily petting Shinx, who was relaxing on his chest, she purred contentedly at the gentle ministrations. Punch and Seedot were nestled at his side taking a nice, midday nap. 

“I’m not,” Changkyun honestly replied, “but I know if I think about this too much I’ll lose my mind.” Hoseok snorted at that. 

“Makes sense.” Hoseok hummed, “Do you mind if I do some of the thinking for you?”

“I’m begging, actually.” 

“Where did you put your potions?”

Changkyun’s face dropped in sudden realization. He vigorously rummaged through his bag looking for the bottles he _knows he has in here, arceusdammit!_ The Trainer ultimately came up with nothing, he began to question his own list of priorities.

“I… guess I don’t.” Changkyun sighed, a tad disappointed in himself for not having such a basic item on him.

“Okay, you’re definitely thinking too much now.” Hoseok frowned, “It’s just a few potion bottles, you can pick them up at the Depot. No sweat!” He said reassuringly. 

It was sensible enough to cut through the fog of anxiety that shrouded him a bit too quickly. Changkyun expressed his gratitude to the older man. “Yeah… you’re right. Thanks.”

“No problem. Now,” Hoseok said as he lifted the now sleeping cub off his chest and placed her next to her friends, “how much do you want to know about Hyungwon and his gym?”

“Nothing.”

“Nothing?” Hoseok quirked a brow, “You sure?” 

Changkyun chuckled, “Yeah, how would it be fair for me to know everything about the Gym when everyone else that comes through has to go in blind?” He held out a hand and helped pull Hoseok to his feet, though, he probably didn’t need it.

“That’s… a good point.” Hoseok grunted, brushing the dirt and grass from his clothes, “I didn’t think about it like that.” He smiled. Changkyun returned his three sleeping angels to their Pokéballs and pocketed them. 

“Now, let’s head to the Depot, shall we?”

\- 

Changkyun stared up at the tall doorway of the Vientown Gym. The oak doors were detailed with a forest landscape carved into the wood with care and elegance. The reality of it all started to sink in.

_You’re here… you’re actually here, and you’re about to challenge a gym…!_

A strong arm flung around Changkyun’s shoulder, knocking him off kilter and, subsequently, back into reality. He glanced to his right and saw Hoseok’s bright smile. Changkyun felt a bit stronger.

“You ready?” Hoseok asked?

Changkyun took a deep breath. _You’re here… about to challenge a gym… with a friend by your side._ He had the urge to pinch himself.

“More than I’ll ever be.” His voice cracked.

Changkyun brushed a hand over the intricate ridges of the entrance and shakily pushed the doors open. For whatever reason he was expecting a flash of bright, stadium-level lighting to blind him the moment the door peaked even a sliver of the other side to him (maybe it was all those years of watching colosseum matches on TV…), but what he was met with was _this_!

The entire room was filled to the brim with trees, bushes, and a wide assortment of vegetation scattered about. Changkyun took a tentative step inside and his eyes started darting around every which way to take in the incredible atmosphere. Sunlight beamed down from above, it looked as if there wasn’t even a pane of glass to divide the ceiling from the roof; Changkyun’s theory proved true when a group of Taillow descended from the sky and landed gracefully in one of the trees nearby. Even the floor beneath his feet -- ankle length grass fading out to a clear dirt path not far from where he stood -- looked part of the ground outside. It was an impressive sight to say the _very_ least.

“Woah.” Changkyun eloquently stated.

“I know,” Hoseok said from behind him, “it’s like standing in the middle of the forest.” A gleam of pride flashed through his eyes. “I helped build this place. The whole town did. The Vien Forest is so important to the people of this town, we wanted every person that comes through here to know that… to feel it.” The older said, fond smile on his face.

Changkyun _could_ feel it, all the love poured into this place, all the love radiating from the forest and its people. This truly was a special little town. Changkyun told him exactly that; Hoseok’s signature smile widened until his eyes resembled crescents. 

“I’m happy you think so!” There was a beat of comfortable silence, “I’m gonna go sit up in the stands.” Hoseok pointed up to several rows of benches that were positioned high above the tree line overlooking the indoor forest, “Good luck! I’ll be cheering you on!” He gave the Trainer one last pat on the shoulder before ascending the wooden stairway to the seated area.

_Alright, Changkyun. You can do this! Everyone trained hard, you got a friend watching, you’re living your dream! Let’s get out there and-_

“Hello there, welcome to the Vientown Gym!”

Changkyun let out a shriek of surprise at the sudden voice, he whipped around to see a younger boy -- he couldn’t have been older than thirteen -- standing in attention, large smile on his face. He had a very… peculiar… hairstyle; long, blue-ish tufts sticking straight up on his head… they did _not_ look gelled in place, leaving Changkyun to question the nature of physics itself. The boy seemed to startle at Changkyun’s own moment of fear. 

“Sorry about that,” Changkyun bowed slightly, “thank you for the welcome, um… are you the gym attendant?” 

“Yup! The name is Ponte Junior!” The boy exclaimed, “I prefer P.J, though.” He held out his little hand in a welcoming gesture, Changkyun gave him a light handshake. 

“I’m gonna guess that this is your first time here?”

“What gave it away?” The Trainer chuckled.

“The look of awe… that, and everyone in town knows who Mr. Lee’s new Trainer friend is!” Changkyun blushed at that. _Everyone… huh?_

“So here’s how the gym works!” The young boy continued, “This indoor forest is set up like a maze with battles around each corner! The more battles you run into, the closer to the end you are!”

_Okay, sounds simple enough…_

“But be careful! The Mini Vien may be small, but it’s _very_ easy to get lost in there, so you’ll have to wear this.” P.J handed him a metal pin that emitted a soft, green light. “A tracker… yeah, a lot of people get lost in there…”

_That’s promising… well, at least I have Punch’s senses, she could probably navigate it no problem!_

“Oh, and you have to do the maze yourself! Having your Pokémon: fly you over, sniff out your path, or dig tunnels is prohibited!”

_Damn, that changes things._

“And just a heads up, a lot of paths lead back to the start, so choose yours wisely!”

_Well, that is certainly a lot to take in_. But if Changkyun was confident in anything it was his intuition! This maze should be a piece of cake.

-

Whoever said this maze was going to be a piece of cake is an overly optimistic dumbass that needed a hard dose of reality. Oh, wait… 

Changkyun has been wondering the same path for about twenty minutes now, and so far he hasn’t run into a _single battle_ . Though, he hasn’t come back to the start yet, so he guessed that’s a good sign. What isn’t a good sign, however, is Changkyun losing all directional sense! He can’t tell North from South, nor which way the front door is… _“Well off”_ is not how Changkyun would describe himself at the moment. 

Especially now that he’s happened upon a fork in the road, he looked up at the sky -- half wanting to scream out his frustrations, but ultimately refraining -- and sighed. Changkyun could either go left or right, and he came to the conclusion that he was not mentally prepared enough to make a decision this monumental. 

In the midst of his dilemma, Changkyun watched as a flock of Starly flew overhead. His head followed them as they flew into the Gym, somewhere far off to the left. _The left._ Changkyun shrugged.

 _Might as well, can’t possibly get any more lost than I already am._ With that reasonably sound logic assessed, he went left. Just as he was starting to think he’s made a horrible choice, Changkyun hears the bushes to his right rustle and he can’t tell if he’s imagining things, or if he’s finally lucked out. 

And thankfully it’s the latter! A girl pops out from the mound of shrubbery. She stretches out her legs and groaned, “I thought you’d never get here! I’ve been crouched over here for over half an hour!”

“I’m sorr-”

“Save the chatter, boy! Let’s battle!”

_Well, she was direct and to the point._ She whipped out a Pokéball and sent forth a determined looking Glameow. After running through his mental playbook, there was only one Pokémon he could think of for the job!

“Let’s get it, Punch!” 

The eager pup popped out of the ball in a battle stance. A low growl rumbled through her throat. Glameow arched its back and huffed, accepting the unspoken invitation to battle. Changkyun smirked, feeling confident for the first time since stepping foot in this forest.

“Go get ‘em, Glam!” She yelled, signaling the barrage of scratch attacks coming right at the awaiting pup. Punch howled in excitement as she hopped from place to place to evade the feline’s sharp claws. Changkyun nibbles at his bottom lip as he analyzed Glameow’s movements, searching carefully for an opening… _There!_

“Slam to the left!” Punch’s ears twitched as she picked up the command and turned quickly on her paws to deliver a strong full-body tackle to Glameow’s left side, knocking it off balance and tumbling to the side. She followed it up by lunging at the stumbling Glameow, but it was quick to recover. Glameow bounced to its feet and used Punch as a springboard to regain ground.

Punch whined in annoyance at Glameow’s tricky tactic, she glanced at Changkyun for assistance. He furrowed his brows, this was a tricky one indeed. Glameow was fast and quick as a whip, but it lacked power in its attacks and, going by how it received that previous blow, had low defensive abilities… Changkyun had to think: how were they going to lure Glameow into a vulnerable position?

He watched closely as Glameow pranced back to a safe distance, kicking up the dirt beneath its feet, it blinked a few times before sneezing harshly to clear its airways. 

“Great dodge, Glam! Let’s shake it off!” 

_Now that’s something…_

“Alrighty, Punch!” He called out, Punch got back in her stance, ready to pounce. “Kick up a dust storm!” She barked in compliance before stomping across the dirt battlefield with ferocity. Glameow took a cautious step back, but couldn’t help the onslaught of sneezes that came bursting out of its nose. _Bingo_.

“Take ‘em down, Punch!” She howled out a cry as she lunged towards the preoccupied Glameow.

“Come on, Glam, it’s just a little dust!” Glameow continued to sneeze despite its Partner’s cries, giving Punch the perfect opportunity to blow through and slam into the Pokémon. Glameow flew back until it met a graceless landing in a nearby bush. Total knockout.

“AH, Glameow!” The Gym Trainer ran to assist her unconscious Pokémon, “You did so great, my little rockstar.” She returned Glameow to its Pokéball and turned to face the victor; Changkyun startled at her piercing gaze. “Great job, kid, you did great! But fuck you for making his allergies flare up.” Changkyun stuttered out an apology. 

“Don’t worry about it.” She waved off, “Keep on moving and maybe you’ll find the next battle, good luck, kid.” Then she disappeared behind the shrubbery. Changkyun has never had a more intense human interaction in his _life_ , he doesn’t know if he should pat himself on the back or faint. Punch yipped excitedly as she pawed lightly at his shoes. Changkyun mentally slapped himself back into reality and praised his little pooch for her hard work. He gave her a second to hope around in glee before returning her to her ball.

_On to the next stage!_

**……….**

“THAT’S MY FRIEND, LOOK AT HIM GO!” Hoseok yelled to no one from his place in the stands. Okay, maybe not _no one_ , Hyungwon can hear him loud and clear from his place on, what he calls, the Leader’s Clearing; clearly annoyed with his best friend’s outburst. 

“IF I CAN HEAR YOU FROM THIRTY FEET UP, YOU’RE TOO LOUD!”

Hoseok happily flipped him off as he watched Changkyun claim his victory in the first round. The large monitor setup for easy view of the dense forest maze allowed him to see Changkyun’s match in stunning high definition! 

He was a bit worried about him for a while there, the on-screen tracker showed him _almost_ circling back to the start, but luckily he was able to correct his course and get back on the right track. Hoseok felt a bubble of pride for Changkyun and- 

“Look at that _adorable_ Poochyena! That golden coat, cute little fangs! Did you see those eyes! As blue as the sky!” 

Hoseok jumped in surprise at the sudden shrill of excitement that came from beside him. There was a man sitting there, a very peculiar one at that; all blonde hair and… mustard yellow suit. His attire was so bright, if he wasn’t careful he’d blind the sun. The thing that stuck out the most, though, was the Sunny Castform hovering just above his shoulder, now _that_ baby was bright.

_Where did he even come from?!_

“Where did you even come from!?” Hoseok shrieked. 

The man halted his praises to stare blankly at Hoseok, “The stairs, man.”

“Well, yeah, but when?” Hoseok asked dumbly.

The brightly colored man turned his attention back to the screen and huffed an amused sigh, “During your bout with the Gym Leader. Love the energy you have for your friend btw.” He said, unironically verbalizing _btw_ like the pre-teen he most certainly wasn’t. 

Hoseok blushed in embarrassment for many reasons, “Ah… of course…” Before he could open his mouth again to apologize, the man started gushing over the Shiny Poochyena on screen; Changkyun wandered into his second battle!

“Look at the way its fur glimmers in the sunlight, marvelous! And look at that coat _bristle_ , its ready for battle, alright!” He swayed side to side as he gushed over the pup; Castform seemed to hum along with him in agreement. 

Hoseok chuckled, “Yeah, she sure is stunning! Passive-aggressive as hell, though. I’m Hoseok, by the way.” 

“Oh, I bet she’s a total sweetheart too,” He says, just as Punch latches onto an Aipom’s tail and starts whipping it around like a lasso… that terrifying furball… “The name’s Minhyuk, and this is my sweetie-baby, Castform.” The Pokémon chimed in greeting, “Nice to meet you!” He said holding a hand out for a friendly shake; Hoseok reciprocated, giving a nod to Castform as well. 

“Likewise. She has her moments…” It looks like that manual tail-whip wound up being the winning move, because the next thing Hoseok saw when he looked at the screen was Changkyun lifting Punch over his head in victory, the pup barked out in glee. 

Both and Hoseok and Minhyuk _“awed”_ at the sight, Hoseok had to try _really_ hard not to whoop out a cheer, lest he be forcibly removed from the premises. 

“What a spectacular little pooch, a beautiful rarity this one~” Minhyuk swooned.

“Rarity?” Hoseok queeried. _That’s an odd descriptor._

Minhyuk chortled, “It’s very rare to see Shiny Poochyena perform so well! If at all… they’re usually expelled from their packs at a young age. Your Changkyun must have gave this little one lots of care.” He explained with far too much enthusiasm.

Hoseok felt uneasy all of a sudden. It was unsettling to hear Changkyun’s theory about Punch’s upbringing have validity to it. But what really made him uncomfortable was this Minhyuk guy referring to Punch like she was some kind of specimen. 

“Yeah, he really loves her a lot.” Hoseok stiffly said, but the mysterious guy didn’t seem to notice his change in demeanor. They fell into silence after that. Hoseok turned his attention back to the screen where Changkyun just came up to another battle, the opponent this time being a Munchlax. Changkyun called out Shinx this time around, the cub tiny compared to the opposing Munchlax, but just as determined as ever! 

Minhyuk whined about not being able to see Punch again - Hoseok felt the need to distance himself from the man after that. But this guys isn’t Hoseok’s main concern - it’s cheering on his friends! And if there’s anything Hoseok is great at, it’s being the best damn cheerleader this side of the region has ever seen!

“YOU GOT THIS YOU LITTLE BLUE WONDER! KICK ASS!”

“HOSEOK, I SWEAR TO ARCEUS!”

**……….**

Changkyun tossed his little champion in the air as the Gym Trainer in front of him returned their… slightly crispy Munchlax to its ball. Okay, perhaps Shinx needs to learn some voltage control, but at least she didn’t pass out this time! 

“Nicely done, sir.” The Gym Trainer sighed, putting Munchlax’s ball back on their belt, “You’re reaching the end of maze, good luck!” They said, before fading back into the shrubbery. _How do they do that?!_ He didn’t let himself think about that for too long, he congratulated Shinx and returned her to her Pokéball. 

Changkyun traveled down the dirt path, that seemed to widen the further he traveled, even the amount of trees started to thin out. Eventually, his feet led him to a large clearing with a single man sitting in the center. 

“You must be the Gym Leader.” Changkyun said, voice wavering. No response…

“Um… Hyungwon? Leader of the Vientown Gym?” Still nothing…

“WAKE YOUR STRING-BEAN ASS UP, HYUNGWON, SO HELP ME ARCEUS! HOW DID YOU EVEN FALL ASLEEP THAT FAST?!” 

Changkyun whipped his head up towards the stands to see Hoseok _this_ close to throwing balled up paper at the sleeping Gym Leader, but his shouting seemed to do the trick. 

“What did I teLL YOU ABOUT YELLING!?”

“I WOULDN’T HAVE TO IF YOU DIDN’T FALL ASLEEP ON THE JOB!” Hoseok hollered, “HI CHANGKYUN!” He waved, smile on his face. Changkyun excitedly waved back. 

Hyungwon turned his attention to the fidgeting Trainer standing at the edge of the Mini Vien, “You must be the incredible Im Changkyun I keep hearing about.” He stood up, brushed his pants off and stretched his long legs out. Changkyun gaped in shock. _Kept hearing about?_

As if he read the confused look on his face, “That musclehead won’t shut up about you, it’s cute actually, seeing him so excited.” Hyungwon yawned. Hoseok made a pained noise from where he was sitting, a man in a garish yellow suit and Castform floating around his head gave him a pat on the shoulder. Changkyun blushed. 

“H-hopefully only good things…” Changkyun stammered. 

Hyungwon cleared his throat, “Kyunnie is so cool! Kyunnie is so hard-working! Kyunnie has an indestructible cranium, you can crack granite with that bad boy!” He said, perfectly mimicking Hoseok’s voice - lisp and all. Changkyun and Hoseok erupted with sounds of bashfulness and mortification respectively. Hyungwon burst into a fit of laughter at their reactions, “Oh my Arceus, you two really are great match.” Changkyun didn’t really know what to say to that.

“Hoseok also said you fight good, too,” Hyungwon smirked, “let’s test that, shall we?” Without changing his relaxed stance, he threw out his first Pokéball; a Bidoof emerged ready to rumble. 

_A Bidoof? Not much of a powerhouse there…_

Changkyun called out Shinx first. She locked eyes with her opponent and lets out the mightiest roar she could - which was more or less a gravely meow, but Changkyun knew she was ready. 

Not as ready as Bidoof, however. Hyungwon signaled their first attack with a low whistle; Bidoof bolted right out the gate at a supersonic speed. Changkyun hardly had time to react as Bidoof closed in, teeth bared - even Shinx was dazed.

“Dodge it!” Shinx barely had time to roll out of the way as Bidoof charged on through with a nasty growl.

“WHY IS SHE ALWAYS SO FERAL!?” Hoseok screeched.

“SHUT UP AND LEAVE MY DAUGHTER ALONE!” Hyungwon yelled back. “Don’t listen to him Bibi, you’re lovely.” Bidoof wheeked at the praise. It’s amazing how Hyungwon could hold nonchalant conversation during battle.

Changkyun, on the other hand, was sweating bullets. He couldn’t wrap his mind around this Pokémon, he should just throw everything he knows about rodent Pokémon right out the window, because he could have _never_ imagined a _Bidoof_ moving with this much agility at _those_ speeds. _This is what Hoseok meant when he said Hyungwon was tough…_ It takes a special kind of Trainer to bring a Bidoof up to this level. It was incredible, even though Changkyun was slightly terrified of his power. 

Changkyun lightly slapped his cheek in an attempt to wrack his brain, he needs to think. How are they going to get past Bidoof’s speed? She and Punch are the only ones on his team capable of keeping up, but Shinx was the only one with long-range attacks… _How can I help Shinx adapt?_

He watched as Shinx bounded from place to place as she tried her best to avoid the all-out chase Bidoof was putting her through. This battle was beginning to look a lot more like a game of tag if anything. Changkyun could tell Shinx was losing stamina quickly, he had to think of _something_! Just as he was about to lose his cool completely - Bidoof stumbled. She went too fast and tripped over a rock… 

_If I can’t get Shinx to adapt, I can at least use Bidoof’s speed against her…_

“Shinx! Swerve ‘em and charge up!” She meowed in acknowledgment, momentarily stopping in her tracks and making a sudden U-turn just as Bidoof closed in, and bolted in the opposite direction; glowing with the charge that was slowly building up. _Now we wait for an opening._

Shinx circled around the field with Bidoof in tow, judging by the amount of light coming off of her. Bidoof was closing in again and looked ready to lunge with a powerful bite attack. Changkyun could tell now was as good a time as any.

“Let it rip, baby!” 

Shinx did a full turn on her hind legs, coming to a stop. Letting out a strangled roar, she unleashed a massive discharge of electricity. Hyungwon’s eyes blew wide as he took in the sight.

“Defense Curl!” He yelled out. Bidoof reacted instantly and pulled herself into a tight ball midair, but the blast was stronger than Hyungwon anticipated. Bidoof was blown back with startling velocity, she soared through the air like a fuzzy cannonball until crashing into a wall of shrubbery.

Hyungwon’s jaw dropped in a way that made him resemble a Politoed. He blinked himself back into reality before running over to his Pokémon. He sighed as he returned her to her ball. “You did great, Bibi, rest up.” He spun on his heel and returned to his position. 

“Not bad, newbie-”

“TOLD YOU HE’S GREAT! YOU DID SO GREAT, KYUN!” Changkyun was practically a tomato at this point.

Hyungwon rubbed at his temples, “I’m just going to ignore him from now on, is that fair? Feels fair.”

“I CAN HEAR YOU!” 

Changkyun giggled. They definitely interacted like childhood friends, it was fun to watch. 

“How ya feeling, Shinx?” He asked, turning his attention back to his Pokémon. She looked a little wobbly, but still standing - even after two discharges, a big improvement from a few days ago. Shinx mewled weakly, but she still stood strong. Changkyun frowned, she was eager to get back out there, and at that he felt pride, but not in this condition, “I hear ya loud and clear, let's get you healed up for the next round.” Changkyun reached into his bag to grab the potion needed, but… 

“For Arceus’ sake…” They weren’t there. _Where on Earth could they- oh_ . Changkyun cast a glance to Hoseok up in the stands, who was looking at him with a sheepish smile as he slowly raised a bottle of potion for him to see, he mouthed a _“sorry”_ before setting it down and putting his head in his hands. That’s right… Hoseok offered to hold onto the bottles when they left the Depot earlier… Guess he forgot to collect them before parting ways. Changkyun sighed, _oh well._

Changkyun frowned again, “Sorry, girl… I can’t let you go on.” Shinx whined, _this cutie…_ He returned her to her ball and threw out Seedot to carry on the next match, he needed to have his moment in the spotlight too, after all. He looked… nervous, very much true to his character - Changkyun gave Seedot all the words of encouragement he could give, Seedot seemed to relax; if only a bit.

Hyungwon cooed at the little acorn before sending out a sleepy-looking Dunsparce, but Changkyun wasn’t about to let his guard down again. 

“Stay on your toes, Dot, this is gonna be tough…” Seedot audibly gulped, “I believe in you!” The little acorn was still shaking, but Changkyun could tell he was mentally prepared… for the most part…

“Dig.” Hyungwon simply said. Dunsparce chirped with delight and burrowed itself beneath the earth. _Oh… that could be a problem._

Seedot’s eyes darted all over the field trying to figure out where the hell Dunsparce could _possibly_ be, “Calm down, bud, it’s okay!” Changkyun reassured, “Be ready to move when I say, okay?” Seedot full-body nodded before ceasing his shivers. Changkyun scanned the battlefield looking for any disturbances on the surface, it was as flat as could be. There wasn’t a single change; the air felt stagnant due to the tension. Then Hyungwon crouched. 

The Gym Leader smirked and gave the ground a sturdy pat. Changkyun opened his mouth to tell Seedot to stay alert, but Dunsparce lept from the earth directly in front of Seedot before he could even utter a word. 

“DODGE!” Changkyun panicked, but Seedot was panicking even more. The acorn stood stockstill as Dunsparce slithered on a demolition path towards him - Seedot was completely frozen in fear. Changkyun pleaded with his Pokémon to move, but nothing.

Dunsparce rammed Seedot head-on with full force, sending him flying back at an alarming speed… right… into… Changkyun’s… path… 

“CHANGKYUN!” Hoseok screamed, watching in terror as Seedot flew directly into Changkyun’s face; the Trainer toppled to the ground like a tree in heavy wind. Seedot was knocked out. Luckily, Changkyun was fully conscious. 

He blinked open his eyes, well, eye… and groaned. Seedot made contact with the left side of his face, and it looked as swollen as it felt. Changkyun raised a hand to prod at the swell, but made a detour to his nose when he felt an uncharacteristic throb and, yup, he’s bleeding. _Great_. Black eye and slowly trickling nose bleed aside, he didn’t feel disoriented, so, he was able to avoid a concussion… miraculously. 

There was a resounding _“HOLY SHIT”_ throughout the Gym, along with various other words of concern from Hoseok. 

“Um… you okay?” Hyungwon asked, Changkyun threw up a peace sign on reflex before wobbling himself back into a standing position. “So, we good to continue?”

Changkyun returned the passed out Seedot to his ball, wiped the blood from his nose, and called out Punch to finish where Seedot left off. Punch howled in excitement the second her paws hit the dirt, then _immediately_ ran up to Changkyun after seeing the state of his face - she pawed cautiously at his foot and whined up at him. 

“I’m okay, sweetheart. It’s just a scratch.” He nasally chuckled, only to wince slightly. _Arceus, this stings like a motherfucker!_ “Let’s finish off this battle, yeah?” 

Punch yipped happily then flipped the switch from sweet companion to fearsome warrior, emitting a low growl from her throat as she caught sight of her opponent. Dunsparce made a sound of eagerness as it hovered in place across the field from Punch.

Hyungwon grinned in exhilaration at the determined Trainer before him, “Game on, then. Okay, Noko, let’s show ‘em what else you got!” 

Dunsparce revved its little wings and charged forward. Punch lowered her stance, ready to jump at a moments notice, but she never had the opportunity, just as Punch was about to lunge, Dunsparce did an aerial backflip before burrowing tail-first into the dirt, disappearing instantly. 

Punch harrumphed in confusion, but Changkyun helped snap her out of it with words of caution, “Keep an ear, eye, _and_ nose out for this one…” She closed her eyes to hone in on the movement going on beneath their feet; Changkyun smirked when he saw Punch open her eyes and follow an invisible trail that seemed to span the entire field. 

Hyungwon tsked at their cover being blown, “Bring it up, Noko.” Dunsparce sprung up directly in front of Punch, but instead of taking her by surprise, Punch latched on to its drill-like tail and flung it to the side, giving herself the chance to fallback to a safe distance. Changkyun cheered out praise that the pup happily soaked up. 

“Close range seems to be this one’s specialty,” Hyungwon airily laughed, “let’s give ‘em an Air Slash!” Dunsparce chittered in understanding, it unleashed several massive streams of air that cut through the space between them like a knife in water. Punch trained her eyes on the concentrated gusts of piercing wind and strode forward, dancing around each attack with precision. Dunsparce opened its eyes in shock at the ever looming Poochyena stalking forward. Dunsparce halted the onslaught of slashes and quickly burrowed itself back in the ground.

Punch growled in frustration at the evasion. “Just do what you did last time, Punch - focus!” Changkyun encouraged. That seemed to calm her down for a moment, but she was back to being irritated when Dunsparce started popping up from the ground like a Diglett. The pup chased Dunsparce from hole to hole trying to stamp out the rascal; predictably, Dunsparce dodged all attempts. Changkyun huffed, _it doesn’t look like… Noko… plans on coming out any time soon. How can we drive it out?_ And he thought dealing with Glameow was rough- a lightbulb flicked on. 

_How we dealt with Glameow!_

“Punch, flood the holes with sand!” Punch yipped and go to work immediately on unleashing a Sand Attack large enough to fill the caverns beneath them. Dunsparce shot out from one of the holes like a geyser. Hyungwon’s jaw dropped.

“How did you- how _can_ you- You’re a dark type Pokémon!”

“I know, I questioned it too, she just digs _really_ fast.” Changkyun sighed, watching as Punch sprinted towards the exposed Dunsparce and body slamming it, midair, into the ground. Dunsparce was out! 

Hyungwon laughed in disbelief as he returned Dunsparce to its ball, “It’s been a while since Noko’s been knocked out. You’re strong, kid-”

“TOLD YOU!”

Hyungwon took a very deep breath before continuing, “Let’s see how you fair against my little man- nope, he ruined the moment. Damn you, Hoseok!” With a resigned sigh, Hyungwon tossed up a Pokéball, and out came a Slaking.

_“Little man”? He’s bigger than Hyungwon!_ Changkyun gaped. His eyes flickered down to Punch who was as happy-go-lucky as usual, in fact, she looked absolutely _ecstatic_ to take on an opponent six times her size - judging by the glint in her eyes, at least.

Slaking stood on his hind legs and thumped at his chest with his fists - emitting a powerful roar that shook the surrounding flora and Changkyun’s soul, he gulped in uncertainty, but Punch’s optimistic outlook was keeping him grounded. 

“Don’t hold back, King!” Hyungwon exclaimed, taking a few steps back… _Oh, that’s a great sign._ Changkyun took a step back as a precaution. A good call, since Hyungwon’s definition of _“don’t hold back”_ was having Slaking rip apart the whole battlefield!

Slaking pounded his fists against the ground with such might, large chunks of earth broke off from the surface and started raining down like merciless hellfire. 

“WHAT THE HELL, WON!?” 

The unearthing of all the ground brought forth a massive dust cloud that cloaked the entire field - visibility was reduced to zero, “Punch!” Changkyun called out, not sure how to direct her through this minefield when he couldn’t even _see_ her, but thankfully she knew what she was doing. Punch maneuvered herself along the falling debris with graceful ease. Once she had a clear shot for her goal - the thick veil of dust acting as the perfect cover for her, Punch gave herself a running start and used a falling rock as launchpad for a powerful headbutt to Slaking’s gut. Slaking stumbled backwards with growl.

“I can’t see anything, but you did great, sweetheart!” 

“Yip!”

Changkyun heaved a sigh of relief once the dust started to settle and he could see her golden coat sparkle amongst the obliterated battlefield, the Pokémon were staring each other down waiting for instruction. Hyungwon furrowed his brows in thought and said, “You know what to do…” then subtly brought his hands up to cover his ears. Changkyun watched closely trying to piece together the clues, it wasn’t until Slaking started to open his mouth did he get it. _Oh dear Arceus…_

“Punch! Stay awake!” He screamed, covering his ears as well. Just as Slaking let out a bellowing Yawn that seemed to make the air itself quiver, Punch shoved her entire head into the dirt… 

Changkyun slowly lowered his hands as the Yawn began to lose power, he worriedly eyed his Pokémon, “Uh… Punch? You awake?” Punch popped her head out at her Trainer’s voice, shaking the dirt off her, seemingly unbothered. _Huh, that was… effective._

“What is this Pokémon made of?!” Hyungwon questioned, completely baffled. Changkyun just shrugged - she’s always been this… resourceful. 

Changkyun turned his attention back to the Slaking, he was wiping at his eyes trying to stay awake; it seems he himself wasn’t immune to the effects of the attack. Changkyun smirked. 

Hyungwon seemed to catch on to what he was thinking, “King! Snap out of it buddy!” Slaking stretched out his arms a bit, he looked ready to lay down for an afternoon nap. _Perfect._

“Take him down, girl!” Changkyun howled. Punch howled on back as she picked up the pace down the tarnished field for yet another direct hit!

“King…” Hyungwon called. Slaking yawned lowly, but not loud enough to put anyone to sleep. 

“Slaking!” Hyungwon yelled louder, Slaking seemed to snap out of it, but before he could focus on what was in front of him, Punch came barreling through with a powerful head-butt to Slaking’s stomach. Slaking grunted at the pure force of the assault as he tipped backwards, the descent seemed to move in slow motion as the respective Trainer’s and their audience watched with bated breath as Slaking hit the ground with a loud thud. 

Slaking was out.

The audience of two erupted into raucous cheers. In a state of disbelief, Changkyun fell right on his ass - his knees were too shaky to support him anyway. Punch bounded right up to him and hopped right into his arms and started licking the side of his face that wasn’t horribly disfigured by a projectile sentient acorn. 

“We did it…” He said under his breath at first, “We did it! We actually did it!” He said louder, reality finally starting to set in. He laughed in joy as he held the pup closer. “You did so great, Punch!” He could cry right now, he was so overjoyed. 

“You did pretty damn well too, Changkyun.” Hyungwon said, now directly in front of him; Slaking long been returned to his ball. He held out a hand for the younger man to take, which Changkyun did with a smile. Hyungwon helped pull him to his feet and gave him a sturdy pat on the back, “Congratulations, you beat the Vientown Gym!”

“CHANGKYUN~” Hoseok wailed, running across the battered field to meet them.

Hyungwon leaned in close to Changkyun, “Please promise me you’ll lose him _somewhere_ out there, please. I’m begging you.” he whispered. Changkyun didn’t even have time to laugh, Hoseok threw both him and Punch over his shoulder and paraded them around with a series of cheers and laughter. 

“Careful, I don’t want to get blood on your shirt!” Changkyun wheezed out a laugh, this was a surprisingly comfortable position, though, Punch looked like she could have gone without the jostling. 

“Who cares! You won!” Hoseok laughed, spinning them in circles.

“Woah there, big guy,” Hyungwon sighed. “He’s still injured.” Hoseok stopped with a grumble and set the dizzy pair back on the ground. 

“Here, use this to for your nose.” The three men jumped at the sudden addition to the conversation, the guy in the yellow suit -- and his Sunny Castform-- who was holding up an equally bright yellow handkerchief. “That was a truly exceptional battle, your Poochyena is one tough cookie.” Punch drooled at the mention of cookies.

Changkyun happily accepted the material, holding it up to his nose where some fresh blood was starting to trickle out. The adrenaline rush from the battle was enough to distract him from the blow, but now that it was over all he could feel was the painful throb - and his eye wasn’t fairing any better. 

“Thank you, uh…”

“Minhyuk! Lee Minhyuk! Thank you for such an exhilarating match!” He brightly smiled, “Your lovely Poochyena was a real star out there, don’t you think, Sweetie?” The Castform hovering around his head chimed in agreement. Punch seemed to enjoy the praise too, because she sat up straight and stuck her chest out in a gesture of pride. 

Hoseok stepped between the injured Trainer and Minhyuk with a chuckle, “Yup, she was great all right! Changkyunnie did fantastic leading her, now,” He said, side-eyeing Hyungwon and frowning; Hyungwon raised a brow, “let’s get this champion some medical attention!” 

Hyungwon seemed to pick up on whatever Hoseok was implying, “Right, then…” He rummaged around in his pocket until he found what he was looking for. “Im Changkyun, I, sitting Leader of the Vientown Gym, hereby bestow upon you the Vien Badge.” 

It was a rounded badge edged with a shimmering gold color that surrounded three green stones placed in the pattern of a great tree. It was as beautiful and sentimental as the Gym that shares its name. Changkyun accepted it with a shaky hand, he clutched it and held it close to his chest as he tried his hardest not to let everything he was feeling come streaming down his face. This badge meant many things to Changkyun, but the biggest one was that it was proof. Proof that this crazy dream that he was mocked for wasn’t as crazy he thought. He was here, living it. 

He blinked back his tears and looked to Hoseok, who was smiling so wide at him. _Oh Arceus… not to mention what this means to him._ It was his ticket to adventure, an invitation to spread his wings and leave this little village. This was a win for both of them.

“Hm, this looks like a touching moment… I think I’ll just… leave.” Minhyuk smiled, waving goodbye. And like that, he was gone.

“He’s sure a… character.” Hyungwon commented.

“Yeah…” 

“I thought he was nice.” Changkyun grinned, because it hurt too much to smile; at least he had something to blame the tears on.

“Hoseok,” Changkyun’s voice cracked, holding up the badge. “You ready to start your adventure? 

Hoseok looked his friend in the eye with the same teary gaze, “I think you mean _our_ adventure.” He said, holding up his fist - Changkyun bumped it lightly with his. 

Punch hopped between the two of them and yipped excitedly. 

“Oh my Arceus, leave before I start crying too!” Hyungwon groaned, wiping at his eyes. The other two men laughed and wiped their tears, well, in Changkyun’s case: tried to. Water was leaking out of his swollen eye and hurt like hell to touch, he winced the moment he did.

“Oh shit, right! Let’s get some ice on that.” Hoseok fussed, already pushing him towards the exit.

“Please…” 

**……….**

Light may be dawning on a new day for our heroes, but no matter how bright the rays of a brand new day are, there is one thing that holds true: the brightest lights cast the darkest shadows. How will our heroes brave the darkness that lurks around these unfamiliar corners?

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “This is going to be a shorter chapter!” I said, cranking out 10k+ words. This could have EASILY been around 18k words, but I decided maybe that was a bit much… but hey, I got a whole other chapter out of it I guess lmao
> 
> A few notes for this chapter!  
> -P.J is an original character I came up with (much like Jodie from the first chapter), but I imagined him to be the son of the game character Ponte. He was one of my fav minor characters and I wanted to get him in here SOMEHOW  
> -Hyungwon’s Dunsparce is nicknamed “Noko” after the original Japanese name for Dunsparce: Nokocchi  
> -Don’t @ me on the topic of Shiny Studies
> 
> Hm… so when I started posting this, I originally wanted to have weekly (and if not, bi-monthly) updates, but uhhhhhh, my holiday schedule clashed with my writing schedule... so chapter 3 may not be up until some time between christmas and new years… sorry about that… but mark my words this fic WILL see its completion. Thanks for reading, Happy Holidays, y’all!


	3. Welcome To Pueltown!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Changkyun and Hoseok finally take their first steps outside of Vientown and they meet some interesting people (and Pokémon) along the way!

Light shines through the open door of opportunity that has presented itself for our heroes, but preparation of the mental and physical kind is needed if they are to start off on the right foot! Let’s see how our heroes are doing mere hours before their expedition! 

**……….**

“And you’re absolutely  _ sure _ I won’t need three pairs of thermal pants?” Hoseok asked for a second time, rifling through his dense closet. He wanted to be sure he was fully prepared for whatever potential scenarios him and Changkyun were going to face out in the vast region of Almia, so that’s why he cornered Hyungwon into helping him narrow down what to bring; because who better to ask than someone who’s traveled a bunch of times!

Hyungwon sighed before addressing Changkyun, who was currently laying flat on Hoseok’s bed icing his face, “Do you plan on staying in Hia for an extended period of time?”

“What’s Hia, again?” Changkyun muffled through the ice pack. 

“Frozen wasteland.” 

“Bring two and hope it’s enough.” Changkyun concluded, Hyungwon nodded in agreement. Hoseok tossed two from the pile into his bag and continued sorting through his clothes.

“Okay, where was I…” Hyungwon pondered, “Oh yeah, so Seokkie and I were eight, and we wanted to make some extra cash for candy, you know, basic kid stuff. Anyway, we decided selling honeycomb would be the way to do it.” He laughed at the memory, “To make a long story short, He got chased into the river by twenty angry Beedrill!” Changkyun chuckled through the pain. 

“Is that why he’s afraid of them?”

“Yup!”

Hoseok whipped his head around at the embarrassing childhood trauma Hyungwon was just freely disclosing, “Dude!” He yelled, throwing a rolled up pair of socks at his best friend’s head, “He doesn’t need to know that!” 

“No, keep going, I love hearing about baby Hoseok!” Changkyun laughed and winced, Hoseok blushed up to his ears. 

Hyungwon rubbed his hands together in mischief, “There was once a time where our little Seokkie wanted to prove how brave he was, so he jumped into the river from the Ranger School bridge and lost his pants  _ and _ underwear in the current! He had to duck behind all kinds of shrubs to get home - ended up getting a poison oak rash on his-”

“ALRIGHT, THAT IS ENOUGH!” Hoseok yelped, he could feel his soul trickle out of his body, leaving behind the very distinct feeling of mortification. Changkyun giggled uncontrollably, and while Hoseok wanted to crawl in a hole and die, he really liked to hear that sound filter through the air. 

He sighed, “Yeah, yeah. Let’s all laugh at baby Hoseok’s expense."

“Aw, he’s pouting! Kyun, get a look at his mega pout!” Changkyun peeked through the ice pack and got a good look at the older man’s puffed out cheeks. 

“Cute~” Changkyun cooed. Hoseok threw his face into the nearest article of clothing and screamed while the other two men burst into laughter. 

“So, anyway,” Hyungwon said, changing the topic back to what they were discussing before he decided to drag up Hoseok’s finest moments, “as far as training goes, I think it would be beneficial if you started incorporating non-verbal queues. You’re doing really well with your code names and whatnot, but they’re a bit predictable.” Changkyun nodded, obviously soaking up the information that was being given to him.

“How long did it take before your guys learned them?”

“Hmm, Bibi and Noko picked them up in a day, Slaking took a bit longer, he doesn’t always listen though, even after years of training.” Hyungwon sighed.

“I get the feeling, Punch gets distracted while training so it takes a while for things to fully set in.” Changkyun sighed, it was coming from a place of love though. 

“Oh the easily distracted ones,” Hyungwon chuckled, “I had a Spinda in my Hoenn team that would follow every leaf that blew with the wind - very difficult in the Fall, but she always fought her hardest.”

“Where is she now?”

Hyungwon checked his watch for a brief moment before answering, “Probably using my Snorlax as a bounce pad.” He sighed. 

“Bounce pad?”

“She likes gymnastics.” Hoseok muffled from the sock drawer. 

“But anyway, as long as you can hold her attention long enough, anything is possible. I’m sure you and your indestructible cranium can figure it out.” Hyungwon yawned. Changkyun nodded, already looking like he was formulating some new training session - Hoseok liked that giddy look of inspiration the Trainer gets in times like these.

“Speaking of battles, did you see that guy at the Gym earlier - yellow suit and the Castform?” Hoseok asked out of the blue, because if he was being honest, something about the interaction still didn’t quite sit right with him and he wanted Hyungwon’s crass opinion on the matter.

“Kinda hard to miss a walking, talking delineator when they walk right onto your field and strike up a conversation with you.” Hyungwon huffed, “I need to put up a ‘Stay The Fuck Off My Field’ sign.” The disgruntled Gym Leader said, looking Hoseok dead in the eyes as he spoke.  _ Okay, points were made.  _

“I thought he was neat!” Changkyun muffled,  _ bless this kid’s soul…  _

“Neat is certainly an… adjective. He seemed a little obsessive if you ask me,” Hyungwon waved off.  _ So, Hyungwon felt weird about him too… then again, Hyungwon kinda dislikes everyone overly eccentric…  _ “then again, a lot of people who view battles tend to be.”

“I guess.” Hoseok shrugged, maybe he’s overreacting a bit, he concludes. 

With the night winding down and Hyungwon’s stories ranking higher on the embarrassing index, Hoseok decided it was time to send the lanky man on his merry way; afterall, they had a big day tomorrow and needed to rest up! 

So, once he shut the door after seeing his best friend out, he pulled out an extra blanket and pillow from the closet and threw them on the couch, his humble sleeping spot for the evening. Changkyun was taking up vacancy in his home this evening, at Hoseok’s insistence. What? The poor guy was injured! He couldn’t leave him alone! Or so he keeps telling himself, but if he was forced to be honest with himself,  _ he _ didn’t want to be alone. After tonight he’d say goodbye to this house he’s spent twenty-two years in for a journey with an uncertain path. In a way it felt daunting, leaving the walls where he experienced so much joy, heartache, growth… life. He’d also have to say goodbye to this town and the people. Hoseok shook his head. 

_ It isn’t a goodbye, it’s a “see you again”. _ He reminds himself. 

But still, there’s a lot of different emotions that are at the forefront of his mind, and right now he’d rather focus on the exhilaration that’s coursing through his veins rather than that inkling of uncertainty. 

Hoseok took a short walk back to his bedroom to check on his friend and, to his amusement, all of Changkyun’s Pokémon were out and about. The Trainer gave a sheepish smile as he tried to gather the wandering Pokémon. 

“Sorry about this, they just came out on their own- This isn’t our bed, don’t make yourselves comfy!” 

Hoseok chuckled before lifting Shinx up and taking a seat on his bed with the crowd, “Don’t worry about it, they can sleep on the bed; I’m surprised they weren’t out earlier, actually.” He gave the blue cub a scratch behind the ears and she melted into his touch. Changkyun cooed. 

“I wasn’t sure if it was okay, they can be very-” Changkyun was saying, just as Punch shook her fur out on the comforter, “yeah…” Hoseok sighed,  _ at least you don’t have to wash the sheets… _ Hoseok gave the filthy furball a gentle pat, his way of saying  _ “no, go ahead, ruin my bed. I don’t mind”  _ and she didn’t seem to care, but she didn’t shoot him an unimpressed look either so that was a sign of progress! 

Seedot, on the other hand, was frantically examining Changkyun; especially his face-  _ annnnd now he’s crying… aw…  _ The earlier incident of being thrown into his partner’s face must have been traumatizing for the little nut. Changkyun picked him up and cradled the Pokémon in his arms.

“Shhh, it’s okay, baby.” Changkyun shushed, rocking him in his arms, “We all get launched into our friends every once and awhile, it happens to everyone!” He reassured, it seemed to calm Seedot down a bit. 

“Speaking of which, how  _ is _ your face feeling?” Hoseok asked, laying back on the bed and letting Shinx and Punch use him as a pillow. Changkyun frowned for a moment. 

“Sore, but at least it isn’t swollen anymore.” Changkyun honestly replied. 

“That’s great! You heal pretty quick.” Hoseok pointed out, Changkyun only shrugged and laid himself back down, Seedot tucked securely in his arms. 

“Thanks for letting me stay here tonight, that was really nice of you.” Changkyun yawned, the exhaustion hectic day he had making itself known.

“No need to thank me, I like sleepovers,” Hoseok smiled poking the Trainer on his good cheek, “besides, it’ll make heading out tomorrow a whole lot easier.” Will it actually? Hoseok wasn’t sure, but he really did appreciate Changkyun’s company.

“Good point.” Changkyun hummed, breathing evening out. He was out like a light faster than Hoseok could blink. He smiled and pulled the blanket up to cover Changkyun, Punch, and Seedot. Hoseok  _ could _ move Shinx to the pile, but she was so warm and fluffy to let go of

_ This is… nice. Maybe I’ll just stay like this for a little while longer… _ He reasoned, shifting his head into a more comfortable position. Arceus, he could fall asleep just like this. And, in fact, he did. The steady rise and fall of the tiny weight on his chest accompanied by Changkyun’s eventual soft snoring helped lull Hoseok off to dreamland.

-

Hoseok woke up the next morning with a crick in his neck,  _ so much for sleeping on the couch… _ He lifted his head slightly and saw all three of Changkyun’s Pokémon sleeping snuggly on his chest,  _ this is nice I guess... _ He had to stop himself from verbally awwing at the sight, then he saw the time. 

8:15A.M. Hoseok shot up on instinct, the three tumbled off his chest as he made a mad dash to get ready for work. It wasn’t until he was on the floor after tripping over his pants, shirt wrapped around his neck in a chokehold, looking up a sleepy Changkyun sitting on his window sill, did he realize that he didn’t have to go to work… Old habits die hard, he supposed. 

Changkyun looked as if he was trying to hold back a laugh; who wasn’t holding back their giggles, however, was that  _ damn Starly  _ sitting on the window sill beside him. It was leaning into a gentle touch that Changkyun had on its head, bread crumbs laid out in front of it.  _ My...Arceus…  _

“Good morning… whatcha doin’?” Changkyun asked, quivering grin on his face. Hoseok blushed in embarrassment.

“Totally not getting ready for work, because that’s not something I have to do anymore.” Hoseok dishonestly answered, he turned in his resignation the second they left the Gym yesterday - of course San complained the entire time about having to do extra work, but knowing Bertha she’ll have his position filled soon. “Please don’t befriend my mortal enemy.” 

“Mortal enemy?” The Trainer chortled, giving the little creature a gentle scratch on the noggin. 

“Yeah, that  _ monster _ has been scaring me awake every morning for the past three years!” The Starly had the  _ audacity  _ to place a wing over its heart in mock hurt. Hoseok glared at the Pokémon, “I’ve lost hundreds of hours of sleep to you, don’t act so innocent!” Starly seemed to chitter out a laugh before flapping its wings and taking to the skies. 

Changkyun chuckled as he hopped off the window sill and offered a hand to the entangled man, which Hoseok gladly accepted.

“I don’t know about you, but I still need to pull a few things together before we leave,” Changkyun said, diverting his eyes once he realized Hoseok wasn’t exactly wearing his shirt properly, “so, um, pack up and get going soon?” 

Hoseok could already tell he was going to enjoy making this little man flustered as all hell. He nodded at the Trainer who walked off to grab his things and leave Hoseok to continue getting dressed.  _ NOW, which pair of shoes is fit for all terrain?  _

_ Fuck it, I’ll bring them all! _

-

The new team of merry travelers took one big step into the village for the last time for a long while. Hoseok took in the surroundings of his hometown with teary eyes; he really didn’t want to cry… again, but apparently his heart still needed to let that faucet flow. Changkyun reassuringly squeezed at his arm as they passed by Miltank Farm.  _ This is a lot more emotional than I thought, my Arceus…  _

Continuing down the dirt road towards the Depot was probably what hit him the hardest, though; because waiting for them at the Vien Forest’s entrance was the whole town there to see them off; there was even a banner wishing the duo luck and safety with their travels! Hoseok’s jaw dropped at the mass of people standing before them, then the dam of tears broke.

“You guys! I can’t believe you did all this!” Hoseok choked on a sob, tears and snot flowing down his face like a waterfall, earning recognizable laughter from the Area Rangers and a surprised gasp from Changkyun.

“You think we’d all miss our little HoHo taking his first steps into the great unknown?” Crawford bellowed from somewhere in the crowd, a chorus of cheers followed; several bodies flew out to wrap the new traveler in a hug, the young Area Rangers… a very tearful Hongjoong was hogging the hugs, though. 

“I’m gonna miss your muscley ass, have fun out there you dork!” Hongjoong cried into Hoseok’s shirt. He could hear Changkyun chuckle in the background, Hoseok turned his head to see Changkyun covering a wide smile with his hand, Hyungwon draped over the Trainer’s shoulder capturing the moment with a camera.  _ Oh great. _

“And I will call this one: Ranger Snotfest.” Hyungwon declared, Hongjoong pulled away with a whine before swiping at the camera, Hyungwon held it over his head with a laugh. 

“Come on, Chae! Let me say goodbye in peace!” 

“This isn’t goodbye, dumbass,” Soojin sighed, “It's a  _ see you again _ ,” 

“Aw~ Look at Soojinnie get all sentimental.” Minnie cooed, the smaller girl only shoved her to the side with a blush. 

Hoseok incoherently sobbed as he pulled the girls in for one last hug, “I’m gonna miss you little shits!” 

After Soojin and Minnie wiggled their way out of his hold, several of the children came barreling in and tackled him in a big hug , at least they tried to, Hoseok stood strong while the kids sort of hung from him like ornaments on a tree. A chorus of  _ “we’re going to miss you”  _ and  _ “who’s going to deliver our milk now?!” _ \-- with a disgruntled  _ “I’m here too, ya know!”  _ from San -- Hoseok gave them all pats on the head. 

“I’ll miss you guys too~” 

“Okay, step aside kids, it’s my turn.” Hyungwon huffed as he helped pry the kids from Hoseok’s body. Once all the teary-eyed children were removed, Hyungwon pulled him in, which  _ really _ caught Hoseok off guard because Hyungwon is a lot of things, but a hugger is  _ not  _ one of them. Hoseok wrapped his arms around his tall friend and gave him a squeeze.

“I’m proud of you, Seok, have fun and stay safe out there, okay?” He whispered, small drops of water fell onto Hoseok’s shoulder and that’s when he realized Hyungwon was crying. That’s another thing he never does… A fresh stream of tears came pouring forth as Hoseok lifted his childhood friend off the ground and shook him around like a doll. 

“I’M GONNA MISS YOU SO MUCH!” Hoseok wailed through the waterfall pouring from every orifice on his face. 

Hyungwon laughed as he wiped at his eyes, “You’re not gonna be gone forever, dumbass, we all know you’ll come visit again. Right, Changkyun? I wanna see your clumsy ass back here too!” 

Changkyun wiped at a stray tear that tumbled down his cheek and nodded, “Of course!” 

“Hear that? We’ll see each other again real soon, now, put me down and go have fun!” Hyungwon laughed, giving Hoseok a pat on the head, but he still wasn’t letting go. “Seok… Seok it’s time to let go now- PUT ME DOWN, HOSEOK!” 

Hoseok eventually did, thankfully, Hyungwon’s back wouldn’t have been able to take much more of it. Hyungwon readjusted the strap on Hoseok’s obscenely large travel pack and gave him one last slap on the shoulder before pulling Changkyun in for a short hug as well. Changkyun looked slightly taken aback, but he returned the gesture with a smile. 

“Keep him safe out there, that’s my best friend-” Hoseok placed his hand over his heart and awwed, “but don’t hesitate to leave him somewhere spooky if he gets clingy and annoying, I recommend Chroma, haunted as all fuck.” Hoseok crossed his arms and pouted,  _ looks like Hyungwon maxed out his Sweetness Card for the day.  _

“Keeping him safe is the least I can do.” Changkyun answered with sincerity. That warm feeling was flooding Hoseok’s chest again. 

“We’ve held y’all up here for long enough,” Crawford interjected, pushing Hyungwon to the side to the side to clear their path for them, “get going if you wanna make it to Pueltown before dark.” 

Hoseok exchanged a look of giddiness with Changkyun before bellowing out one last goodbye to the people of Vientown - and with that, they walked shoulder to shoulder through the forest’s entrance and setting off on the first leg of their journey. 

-

Hoseok had seen this portion of the forest a million times over the years, but right now it felt like he was seeing it with a fresh set of eyes. The lush greenery danced with the gentle streams of wind that flowed through the branches, the shaking of the leaves leaving behind a song with each rustle, the variety of Pokémon hiding within them filling in the blank spaces in sound. It felt tranquil without a box of milk on his shoulder.

“The deeper we go the more beautiful it becomes.” Changkyun breathlessly said, marveling at his surroundings. Hoseok hummed in agreement. 

“It didn’t always look like this,” He said, recalling a distant memory, “well, it did. Then it didn’t… but then it did again!” Changkyun raised an eyebrow. 

“You’re gonna have to elaborate.” Changkyun chuckled. 

“Ah, right!” Hoseok sighed, he guesses that was a bit vague, “Way back in the day, this section of the forest was burnt to a crisp as a result of some organized crime scheme. It stayed like that for a long while, until one of our local Rangers went searching for Celebi-”

“The legendary Pokémon!?” Changkyun gaped.

“That’s the one!” 

“Did they find it?” Hoseok smiled at how enthralled Changkyun looked.

“They did! And Celebi was able to revive the forest and bring it back to its original state!” 

“That’s… amazing.” Changkyun took one more long look around, taking in the sight with his newfound perspective.

“Everyone seemed to think so, now we hold annual celebrations in honor of the day our forest was brought back to us,” Hoseok huffed a chuckle remembering all the fun he’d have at those. The Vien always seemed to be overflowing with freshly bloomed flowers filling the open air with a light fragrance that blended in with the potluck of food everyone would bring; how great it was as a child to feast on different types of pie and dance to the music provided by the talented musicians that played for the occasion! Hoseok wonders if he should invite Changkyun to the next one… “there was even a whole new town born from the miracle that took place here - Celebitown, as it’s appropriately named; I heard it’s a cute little place, very earthy.” 

“I bet it looks beautiful, can we go there sometime?”

“Technically speaking, it’s already on our radar. They have a Gym! So if you wanna go there after Chroma and Altru…?” Changkyun’s eyes widened at the new information.

“Sounds like a plan, then!” Changkyun smiled, he looked incredibly happy and Hoseok couldn't help but feel a little more excited about their future stop in the town.

A light breeze carried along as they further discussed the lay of the land and all the possible routes they could take to get to their destinations, even all the different stops along the way. For someone who's never left his small town, Hoseok sure knew the map of greater Almia like the back of his hand; especially the attractions and tourist traps he’s heard about and is just dying to visit. Hoseok rattled off about a carousel ride in Altru Park and boat tours that let you interact with Sea Pokémon and, the place at the top of his list, Altru Tower! 

Changkyun listened in earnest as Hoseok happily rambled on about how  _ “it’s the tallest building in all of Almia, and I don’t care if heights scare me shitless, I really, really want to see all of Almia from up there!” _

Hoseok had just gotten into the list of restaurants he wants to try out when he was interrupted by the shrill shrieks of several Pokémon piercing through the air. The duo shared a fleeting look of concern before sprinting in the direction of the noise. They pushed past the brush of low-hanging trees and happened upon the sight of a small Buneary being backed into a corner by an angry pack of Stunky. The trapped Pokémon wailed in distress as a Stunky closed in with its claws pointed outwards. 

Before Hoseok could even think about it, he was dashing forward and putting himself between the Buneary and gang of Stunky, trying his best to reason with them.

“Hey now, fellas! I’m not sure what this little bun did, but I do  _ not _ think it warrants this kind of attack.” The man said in the most mature, fatherly voice he could muster, the Stunky retracted their claws and grumbled amongst themselves, they ultimately backed off with a series of huffs and grunts. Hoseok breathed a sigh of relief having walked out of this one unscathed… and unsprayed… He looked up at Changkyun who was staring back at him with the same face of relief. 

“That could have ended so badly.” The younger exhaled like he’d been holding his breath for the entire exchange. 

“So, so badly.” Hoseok chuckled in agreement. He turned around to look at the tiny Buneary that was staring up at him with a slight tremble, he was a giant compared to the Pokémon. Hoseok got on one knee to meet the Buneary, “You all right, little one?” 

Buneary nodded with some trepidation, Hoseok gave her a wide smile. “I’m glad! Stay safe now, okay?” He gave Buneary a gentle pat on the head before returning to Changkyun’s side. The Trainer gave Hoseok a nudge.

“That was terrifying, impressive,” The Trainer said, “And very cute.” Changkyun said, cocking his head to the side and giving a feline-like grin. Hoseok raised a brow in confusion. 

“What’s with the face?” He questioned. Changkyun only pointed downwards with his finger. Hoseok followed the gesture to his feet and saw the Buneary standing right next to him, looking up at him with her paws tucked cutely behind her back; Hoseok’s jaw dropped at the sight.

“Hi.” He dumbly said. Buneary nudged at his shoe with her little foot and gave him hopeful eyes. Changkyun gave him a pat on the back in encouragement, “Did… did you need anything?” 

“I think you know…”

“Do I though?!” 

Buneary hopped in place for a second to show her gratitude, Hoseok could feel his heart swell. 

“Did you maybe want to tag along?” He hesitantly asked, because he couldn’t really believe he was experiencing a Changkyun-level of Pokémon befriending right noow, he was almost nervous for the reply.

Buneary jumped up and down in delight, Hosoek couldn’t help but mimic the action; Changkyun giggled at their excitement.

“Oh my Arceus, you two look exactly alike!” Changkyun cooed. Hoseok swept Buneary up in his arms and tilted his head to the side, Buneary followed suit.

“How so?” He asked, cheeks puffed. Changkyun clutched his heart in gesture of  _ cuteness overload _ and sighed.

“So cute~” Hoseok and Buneary made a bashful noise accompanied by a light blush. Who would’ve thought it would be this easy making a Pokémon friend? Hoseok certainly didn’t. He was already starting to enjoy the fuzzy warmth the itty bitty creature emitted. Hoseok could hardly believe this was his life now, but Arceus, was he loving it already.

-

“But I don’t have to keep her in a Pokéball all the time?” 

“Not if you don’t want to, but it’d be best to pick one up in case you have to enter a Pokémon-free establishment, I only keep Punch in hers because she tends to dart off; Shinx too.” The pup in question let out a proud yip from where she was tucked protectively in Changkyun’s arms, said pup having popped out sometime after adding Buneary to the crew serving as the perfect example for his statement. 

“Wait, back that up. There’s such a thing as Pokémon-free establishments?” 

“Yeah, super common in bigger cities.”

“Whack.”

“Right? Like, you got these super cool pals that go everywhere with you and they can’t enter a building because they’ll shed a bit? Dumb as fuck.” 

The two shared a laugh at the ridiculousness of city etiquette, the faint shaking rousing Buneary from the nap she was taking on Hoseok’s shoulder. The duo had been traversing the vast forest for several hours now - Hoseok had no recollection of the Vien being so  _ huge _ . Just as he thought that, they came to a clearing with a stairway carved into the side of a hill. The older man jumped in eagerness. 

“We’re almost there!” He said, grabbing Changkyun’s hand and bounding up the steps. By the time they made it to the top, Changkyun was sweaty and out of breath while Hoseok -- seemingly unaffected by the exertion -- was taking in the view. 

“Wow.” The pair exhaled. Hoseok had never seen such a sight before, sure, he’d seen Altru Tower shining proudly on the horizon once before, but he’s never seen its beauty against the backdrop of a grand city! 

“Now this is a view…” Changkyun whistled, eyes trained on the clear sky hanging above the cityscape and the Staraptors weaving around the tower, even Punch was mesmerized by the scenery. 

“Me or the city?” Hoseok jokingly said, Buneary posed to emphasise the statement.  _ She’s playing along… This is going to be so much fun~  _

“Yes.” Changkyun answered, cheeks turning pinker, he turned back to the cliffside and examined it a bit more, he cleared his throat, “Is that Pueltown down there?” 

Hoseok willed his heart back into a normal rhythm, “Yeah, it sure is! If we keep on this path we’ll be in Pueltown within the hour!” 

And sure enough, they made it to the town within the hour; mostly because Hoseok insisted on jogging because he was elated to be here. Changkyun desperately tried his best to keep up, luckily they made it the town’s entrance before he could pass out. Punch barked encouragement to her partner as he cleared the final few steps, it was fascinating to watch the Trainer be trained. Though, Hoseok does feel a little bad for pushing the poor guy to his physical limits. 

“You good?”

“Oh? Me? Just peachy - I do runs like this all the time!” Changkyun heaved, hands on knees as he attempted to catch his breath. 

“I’ll walk slower next time.” Hoseok apologized.

“That was you  _ walking _ ?!” 

Hoseok laughed as he guided the Trainer through the stone archway that marked the entrance of the small harbor town. It was just as magnificent as he remembered, sparkling stone streets and bridges, the refreshing salty sea breeze, the wild Pokémon that coexist with the townspeople… it felt like Vientown, but on a much larger scale - Hoseok wanted to explore all of it; the mesmerized look on Changkyun’s face said he was thinking the same thing. 

“What do you mean  _ you don't know _ ? You’re an arceusdamn Ranger for crying out loud!” 

Hoseok and Changkyun turned their attention to a very loud conversation that was taking place not far from them. It looked to be between a citizen and Ranger-  _ Ah, I’ve seen this Ranger before! _ Hoseok recalled. He’s a tall, muscular man; accompanied by an even bigger Ursaring. His name is Shownu, if he’s recalling correctly. Hoseok would see him come into town to meet with Crawford once every few months, he seems like a nice guy, a bit imposing, though. 

“Sir, we are doing everything we can to locate your Pokémon, there are just so many cases in our inbox right now, but we are-”

“Well it isn’t good enough!” The man said, storming off with a frustrated huff. Shownu sighed as he ran his hands across his face, his Ursaring gave a low growl, but it looked to be a gesture of reassurance, because Shownu gave the large Pokémon a rub behind the ears. 

Shownu looked up and locked eyes with the duo, who were now shuffling awkwardly having been caught watching, Hoseok gave a small wave. The Ranger’s eyes widened a bit in recognition as he returned the wave. 

“You’re the milkman from Vientown, right?” Shownu asked walking up to properly greet them, “HoHo, was it?” Hoseok’s ears reddened at the nickname.

“It’s Hoseok… actually. And this is my friend Changkyun.” He said, patting the younger on the back. “I’ve been trying to get Crawford to stop calling me that for years…” 

The Ranger chuckled, “If it makes you feel any better, he keeps calling me Nunu, so...” 

“It does actually.” Hoseok laughed. Crawford would baby anyone a second younger than him, even this brick wall of a man. “Is everything okay over here?” 

Shownu sighed again, looking conflicted. Then his eyes landed on the excited pup in Changkyun’s arms and something in him seemed to give. 

“Not really… There’s been a series of Pokémon abduction being reported around Puel - even got a few cases from Altru and Celebi. All the Pokémon that have been reported missing are Shinies.” The Ranger said, carefully evaluating their reactions. 

Hoseok felt his heart drop to the pit of his stomach. Not only was it horrifying that so many Pokémon were missing, taken from their partners, but the fact they’re all Shinies hit particularly close to home. Hoseok glanced over to Changkyun and he felt something in him shatter. The lively Trainer was as white as a sheet as he held Punch a little closer to his chest; it looked like Punch was picking up on the distress in her partner, because she pressed her face into his chest and whined. 

“Kyunnie…?” Hoseok asked, placing a hand on his shoulder, rubbing lightly with his thumb. “Are you okay?” A very dumb question with a very obvious answer. 

“Yeah…” Changkyun answered, sounding breathless, “I think I need to sit down for a sec.” 

**……….**

Everything felt like it was spinning, and Changkyun couldn’t explain why. 

One second he was fine. He was traveling through the forest with Hoseok by his side, and now he was trying to swallow down this overwhelming feeling of anxiety that was clawing its way up his throat. 

_ Pokémon. Lots of Pokémon… missing. And they were all Shinies… just like Punch. _ Changkyun looked down at the golden pup in his arms and met her concerned gaze, he couldn’t wrap his mind around it, but he could wrap his arms around Punch and keep her safe. 

He hardly noticed how Hoseok bid Shownu farewell and guided his shell to a bench to sit. A firm hand on his knee (and several fuzzy paws on his arms) helped pull him back into reality. Changkyun shakily lifted his head to meet Hoseok’s gaze, his small smile was all he needed to suck up the tears prickling at his eyes.  _ Maybe I’m overreacting… _

“You feeling alright?” Hoseok asked, giving Changkyun’s knee a squeeze. 

Changkyun took a few deep breaths and nodded, “Yeah, sorry about that… I got a bit overwhelmed.” 

“You don’t have to apologize, I can understand.” Hoseok hummed, his voice aided in easing Changkyun’s nerves, he exhaled a breathy  _ thank you _ .

“It’s just… awful.” The Trainer struggled to find the right words. “All those Pokémon are gone and here I am worried about myself and Punch-”

“There’s nothing wrong with that.” Hoseok frowned, “You love Punch - I know you don’t want anything to happen to her, especially given the circumstances. It’s okay to want to make sure she’s safe.” 

Changkyun nodded, his words were failing him, but he wanted to make sure Hoseok knew he was grateful for his reasoning, so he squeezed the hand on his knee and gave a weak smile. 

“Thank you.”

“Don’t even mention it!” Hoseok grinned, “And besides, if anyone wants Punch, they’ll have to go through me first!” He said, flexing his bicep for emphasis. Buneary hopped up on his shoulder and flexed along with him, giving the scariest face she could muster. 

Changkyun giggled to himself, “Looks like I’m in good hands.” And he meant it, Changkyun has never had anyone in his corner before, and now he’s fortunate to say he has a friend like Hoseok standing beside him. Changkyun felt a whole other wave of emotions hit him, this one a bit happier… it still made a few tears spring to his eyes, though.

Hoseok gave him a blinding smile before pulling the Trainer to his feet, “You sure are! Now, how about we go take a look at the ocean? I’ve never seen this side of it before!” Changkyun let himself be dragged through the streets of the expansive seaside town, not minding all the amused looks from all the passersby. His mood has lifted significantly and he wanted to cherish this moment, so he picked up the pace as a silent challenge to race to the harbor - which Hoseok happily accepted. 

-

“This is a bit excessive.”

“No it isn’t.”

“I’m already wearing three!” 

“And one more will be enough!” Hoseok argued, fitting another inflatable arm float around Changkyun’s arm and tightening the strap, “You will  _ not _ be drowning on my watch!” He said, reaching for the tube float laying off to the side. Changkyun rolled his eyes, but chuckled despite not having full range of motion in his arms anymore. 

“It’s just a boat ride, I don’t need the big one.”

“What if we want to get out and swim?” Hoseok pouted…  _ Shit. Hyungwon warned me about that pout… _

Changkyun relented, “Okay, fine, but I’m  _ not _ wearing it now!” Hoseok’s pout changed to a wide smile instantly, having won his little battle. 

“Then let’s get onboard then, shall we?” He asked, gesturing towards the boat in gentlemanly manner. The pair were able to book a last minute boat tour of Puel Sea, but Hoseok was slightly apprehensive after their last water-related activity. Changkyun ensured him he would be  _ extra careful this time, promise! _ But Hoseok still put him in as many pool floaties as he could find. Which brings them here! In a decently sized charter boat in the middle of the Puel Sea with a handful of other tourists, watching below as a wide array of Sea Pokémon navigated the crystal clear waters. 

Both men’s eyes were as wide as saucers as a group of Mantine and Mantyke skimmed the top of the water, splashing a refreshing mist at the astonished onlookers as they breached momentarily, their fins coming up in a way that made it look like they were greeting the crowd with a friendly wave. A lot of the children, and Hoseok, waved back with delight. 

Punch and Buneary tried their best to join in on the maritime fun by  _ leaning over the railing _ , but an exasperated Changkyun was their to catch them each time. “Okay, Pokéball timeout for you, missy.” Changkyun sighed, returning Punch to her ball. “Here, might want to put her somewhere safe too.” He handed an empty ball to Hoseok, who closely examined the device with a focused stare.

“Why is it so tiny?” He question, making Changkyun snort.

“You have to press the button.” Hoseok did as instructed and went wide-eyed as the ball grew three times in size, “How did it do that!?” 

“Magic.” Changkyun said, waving his fingers mystically. “Just touch it to Buneary’s head and bwoom, she’s in!”

Hoseok slowly brought the ball to her head and gaped in awe as she disappeared in a beam of red light, he inspected the ball once more and turned to Changkyun with his brows furrowed. “And she’s just… in there?” 

“Resting nicely.” He replied, patting him on the shoulder. Hoseok smiled at Buneary’s Pokéball before tapping the button and slipping it securely in his pocket. 

“Thank you, this’ll definitely come in handy,” He smiled, “especially when we go for dip here in a minute!” 

Changkyun felt a cold sweat drip down his neck at the mention of  _ swimming _ in the  _ ocean _ . He didn’t even have a problem with water until the… fishing incident… but that was enough to instill a healthy fear of it! But he had Hoseok… and all these floaties, he’s sure he’ll be fine. 

And, right on time: “Hello folks, this is your captain speaking, we will be stopping for the next half hour, feel free to explore the seas on your own!... Do watch out for Sharpedo, though…”

“Hell yeah, ocean time!” Hoseok gleamed, stripping his shirt and shorts off, leaving a pair of black swim trunks in their place. He carefully placed them inside his bag before diving with perfect form into the waiting water. Changkyun tried his best  _ not _ to gawk at the other man as he splashed around in glee - keyword: tried. Hoseok pointed to the inflatable float they brought along and beckoned him in. He shakily grabbed the float and made his way to the boat’s edge.

Changkyun carefully dipped a foot into the cool ocean water - a stark contrast to the blazing Summer heat, and gripped tightly to the tube float. Hoseok floated in front of him, holding his arms out to welcome the slightly apprehensive man into the water. Eventually, Changkyun willed himself to jump in, he shrieked in elation as the force of the leap spun the float in circles. 

Hoseok laughed as he tried to stabilize the Trainer, which more or less ended with them clinging to each other in a fit of laughter. 

“This swimming thing is kinda fun!” Changkyun said, calming down a bit. 

“I wouldn’t call this  _ swimming _ , but I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself!” Hoseok chuckled, splashing the younger in the chest. 

“Could you teach me?” Changkyun asked, blushing lightly. It was a little embarrassing to ask, but since they’re here… 

“I was planning on it, actually~” Hoseok said, helping Changkyun steady himself on the water, Hoseok gripped the tube and gave him a look that said  _ trust me _ as he carefully lifted it over his head and moving it to the side, he reached for his hands and held them tightly; Changkyun would be lying if he said he wasn’t a little scared of the open waters he was now floating in… minus one layer of floatation. But despite the slight fear, he held onto Hoseok’s hands like a lifeline and kicked his feet fiercely to stay chest level with the water and- hey! He was actually floating!

“You’re doing great, now I’m going to move back a bit, just lean forward and keep kicking your feet.” Hoseok encouraged. Changkyun did exactly as instructed, and to his surprise, he was doing it! He was swimming… with assistance! 

“You’re a natural! Now, I’m going to let go-”

“Don’t you dare!” 

The two floated around, practicing Changkyun’s swimming, for what felt like hours - it was safe to say his swim stat raised exponentially by the time Changkyun decided he needed a rest from all that training and kindly asked Hoseok to put the floaty back on him. Changkyun wasn’t sure if you could get exhausted to the point where you just  _ stop _ floating, but he wasn’t about to risk it or look dumb for asking. 

At the young Trainer’s request, Hoseok fitted the float back around his body and watched at Changkyun breathed one big sigh of relief as he settled into the rubber ring. 

“That’s better, who knew swimming could be so  _ tiring _ !” Changkyun whining, spinning around for emphasis. 

“Wow, it’s almost like it’s an exercise that works every part of your body.” 

“I hear the sarcasm, but I’m tired, so I’m going to ignore it.”

Hoseok huffed out a laugh and swam a few laps around Changkyun’s buoyant form, “You did an excellent job, how about we do this again tomorrow until you can do it without the armbands?” 

Changkyun splashed at the circling man absentmindedly trying to think of a way out of -- what is essentially -- a daily workout, but he figured he may as well put in the effort to train himself if he’s going to train his Pokémon. “My life is in your hands, great swim instructor of mine.” 

Hoseok only flexed his arms, while swimming…  _ showoff.  _

“What do you think that building over there is?” Changkyun asked -- wanting to focus on literally anything else besides his  _ swim instructor’s arms, they’re bigger than his head, what?!  _ \-- pointing to a… precarious looking building off in the distance, it looked like a large lighthouse -- so not entirely out of place along the coastline of the seaside town, but what made it stand out was the giant beach-ball-like structure sitting at the top of it. Realistically, what purpose could that  _ possibly _ serve? It wasn’t exactly easy on the eyes either, it stood out like a sore thumb amongst the surrounding buildings.

“Not sure…” Hoseok said, floating leisurely on his back, shielding his eyes from the sun to get a better look, “It sure sticks out, though… is it bedazzled?” It did indeed sparkle in the sunlight… 

“Oh? That shining beauty? That’s the Pueltown Gym!” Said a man from behind them. The pair spun around to meet a guy lazily riding atop an off-color Dewgong. He had a head of wild black hair that matched his scraggly beard, a series of small tattoos decorated his skin; Changkyun had to fight himself not to stare, but the mention of a Gym piqued his interest. 

“The place is suuuuper tough.” The handsome stranger drawled out, the Dewgong made a grunt of agreement, “The Leader is a real hunk too, but you didn’t hear that from me!” Count Changkyun as intrigued. 

“Really? What’s his name?” Changkyun asked.

“Song Gunhee, he’s a real man’s man if you ask me!” 

“And who are you, exactly?” Hoseok asked, looking as if he wanted to roll his eyes at the eccentric nature of the man in front of him; Changkyun had to cover his mouth to muffle a giggle,  _ this guy is fun. _

The man smirked, “Song Gunhee.” Both Hoseok and Changkyun’s jaws dropped. 

_ This is the Pueltown Gym Leader…? He is a hunk…  _

Hoseok made an odd, open-mouthed noise, “So  _ you’re  _ Song Gunhee! I’ve heard so much about you!” 

“Hopefully only good things…” The Gym Leader laughed nervously.

“Nothing but the worst!” Hoseok smiled brightly, Changkyun would have drowned if he wasn’t so securely fastened to several pool floats. “I’m friends with Chae Hyungwon!” 

Gunhee let out an excited scream, “Really, then you must be Seokkie then? How’s that sleepy bastard doing? Last I heard he’s been running up the Vientown Gym!”

“It’s Hoseok… and yeah, he’s a damn good leader at that, too!” Hoseok puffed out his chest in pride, “Not stronger than my Changkyunnie here, though!” he gave the Trainer in question a generous pat on the back, the force of it sending the smaller man floating forward in the water; Changkyun’s blushed heavily as the end of float came to a stop, leaving him face to face with the Gym Leader. 

Gunhee’s eyes widened then settled into a playful grin, “This black and blue little boy-”

“I’m nineteen.”

“This black and blue little  _ man _ beat Chae?” He raised an eyebrow, swimming around the Trainer to get a better look, Changkyun couldn’t help but gulp,  _ he’s intimidating up close…  _

“Good for you, man! That must’ve been rough.” Gunhee laughed, “Did that palm tree do that to your face?” Changkyun shook his head, “ Damn, then he softened up a bit… probably for the best. Crazy guy slugged me once for no good reason!”

“Didn’t you hang his sleeping bag from a tree… while he was in it?” 

Gunhee snorted to himself, “I most certainly did.” Changkyun felt himself developing a healthy fear of this man, but he sure was a fascinating guy, that’s for sure, “I trust I’ll see you walking into my Gym some time, yeah?” He asked, coming in real close and poking at Changkyun’s chest.  _ Oh dear Arceus…  _

“Yeah, absolutely!” He shuddered out. 

“Great!” Gunhee clapped his hands together and withdrew from his personal bubble, “Then I guess I’ll be seeing you guys around! It’s been nice chatting with y’all, but I gotta jet, later!” And like the tide on a moonless night, he was gone. 

“W-what just happened…?” Changkyun breathlessly asked, putting his hand over his chest and-  _ why is your heart beating so fast?! _

“I think my friend’s ‘arch nemesis’ just tried to seduce you…” Hoseok said, putting air quotes around  _ arch nemesis _ .

“Arch nemesis?” The Trainer asked, not mentally strong enough to evaluate being potentially  _ seduced _ . 

“Yeah, those two go  _ way _ back.” Hoseok started, “I told you about how Wonnie was the first person to beat the Almia League, right?” Changkyun nodded. “Well, he was in competition with Gunhee to do that; they started off as travel partners - having met somewhere along the way, but it developed into something a little more competitive… pretty sure they were a  _ thing _ for a bit, but Hyungwon always aims for the neck when I try to bring it up.” 

Changkyun found himself lost in thought trying to evaluate his mental Strength Chart to see where he places alongside powerhouses like that… Sure, he managed to defeat Hyungwon, but not by much… He’s going to need  _ a lot _ more practice before he could even bring himself to  _ think _ about challenging Gunhee. He was suddenly filled with a rush of motivation to start training right this instant. Changkyun was shaking with excitement. 

“Hey, Hoseok? Can we start heading back to the boat? I wanna start running some drills with the guys as soon as possible!” Changkyun didn’t bother holding back his excitement, especially when Hoseok shared the same look as he did. 

“I was wondering when you’d ask,” He chuckled, “I think we should grab something to eat first, though.” On queue, the older man’s stomach let out a wild growl, Hoseok smiled sheepishly.

“Sounds like a plan!” 

-

“I just think it’s really,  _ really _ dumb that I have to wear something ‘nice’ just to enter a fancy restaurant.” Hoseok grumbled after being denied entrance to their third restaurant they’ve come up to. “Seriously, what’s wrong with what I’m wearing now?!” He whined, gesturing to his dirt and sand stained pants and black shirt covered in Buneary fur. “It’s nonsense!” Buneary huffed from where she was standing on his shoulder, perfectly mimicking her new partner’s crossed-arm pout. 

Changkyun chuckled to himself, he himself not looking very presentable either, what with the wet hair, damp clothes and sand caked into his skin… 

“That’s the usual decorum with nicer restaurants, let’s just eat at that cafe - we have plenty of time to go to one of the suit-and-tie places.” The Trainer reassured, Hoseok pouted out an  _ okay _ before stopping in front of a humble cafe that had a lush outside seating area. 

“I knew I should’ve packed that four piece suit.” 

Changkyun chuckled and pushed the man inside to make their orders while he secured a seat in the outside seating area. His Pokémon must have sensed he was in a nice, spacious area, because the second he sat down all three of them made their presence known.

“You guys can’t just pop out anytime you like, you know!” He exasperatedly sighed, only Seedot looked apologetic about it, though. 

“Hm, good thing I ordered extra, then!” Came Hoseok’s voice from behind them, he was holding a tray with two sandwich platters, a bowl of fruit, and three glasses of milk. Changkyun shook his head, smiling softly to himself. “I tried the milk already, not better than Bertha’s!”  _ He was serious about trying all the milk Almia had to offer. _

Changkyun thanked him for braving the responsibility of interacting with someone to order food and paying. Hoseok divide the fruit bowl amongst the four Pokémon -- who were currently getting better acquainted with each other -- and placed a large sandwich in front of the Trainer. 

“Eat up! You can’t train on an empty stomach!” This was much more sandwich than Changkyun could handle, but the bright smile on Hoseok’s face as he waited for him to take the first bite urged him forward; he began his Lunch Sidequest and tore into the sandwich… this was going to be a long lunch.

“It’s really good, nothing beats yours, though.” Changkyun muffled through a bite of food. It could’ve done with a little less mayo… “How are you guys?” He asked the Pokémon congregated on the chair next to him, all of them ignored him in favor of the fresh cut berries in front of them. 

Hoseok looked up from where he’s already demolished half of his sandwich…  _ Arceusdamn… _ and blushed, “Thank you…”  _ He gets flustered over the smallest compliments, cute… wait, I’m not much better…  _

“Wow! I have  _ never _ seen someone eat a sandwich that fast, how did you not choke!?” 

The duo jumped in their seats at the very sudden, very loud voice that hollered from beside them.  _ Why do people keep doing that! _ Changkyun turned to see none other than that Minhyuk guy and his Castform from yesterday, still dressed up in that gaudy looking yellow suit…  _ he makes it work, though.  _

“Oh, Changkyun, Hoseok! Fancy seeing you two here! Your face looks horrifying, how ya feeling?” Minhyuk said, pulling up a seat next to him, smile on his face. 

“No, go ahead. Take a seat…” Hoseok mumbled through his remaining sandwich, Changkyun playfully whacked him on the thigh.

“I’m doing better! Still stings like a bitch, though.” He honestly replied, Seedot made an apologetic noise for the hundredth time; Changkyun gave him a closed-mouth smile and a pat on the shell, the nut huffed a relieved sigh.  _ We’re really gonna have to work on his guilt complex, my Arceus…  _

“Oh!” Changkyun exclaimed, “Thank you for yesterday,” He pulled out the -- freshly cleaned --  handkerchief that Minhyuk had so kindly lent him to clean his bloodied face, it took forever to clean, but there’s nothing a little bleach can’t fix. The eccentric man accepted the cloth back with a beaming smile - he always seems to wear one. 

“Aw~ You didn’t have to return this old thing, but I appreciate it!” Minhyuk said, pocketing the square and resting his arms on the table and leaning forward a bit, “And how is the  _ lovely _ Punch doing today?” The pup puffed her chest at the attention. “Shiny Pokémon are so fascinating, don’t you think?” 

“In what ways other than the obvious?” Changkyun mused.

Minhyuk took a deep breath to signal that a storm was about to come pouring from his mouth, “Oh, they’re so incredible! Stunning coats aside, did you know that every bodily system they have is highly acute? Respiratory, Muscular, Nervous, even their Immune systems are greater than your average Pokémon!” Castform made an angry-sounding noise. “You’re anything but average, sweetheart.” Minhyuk corrected himself, Castform whistled in delight. 

“And that’s not even scratching the surface of the wonder!” He continued, “Being honest, there’s a whole lot we still don’t know, that’s why there’s constant research underway to understand these friends!” Minhyuk cheered, Castform chimed along.

“Research?” Hoseok spoke up. 

“Yep! The research of one company by the appropriate monicker  _ SHINee  _ is leading the charge in Shiny studies!” 

Hoseok raised an eyebrow while Changkyun sat upright in interest, “What kind of studies?” 

“The usual stuff, comparative DNA research, field studies, those cute little obstacle courses that test their senses; stuff of that nature.” Minhyuk answered, counting on his fingers to make sure he didn’t miss a thing. “Your little Punch here would make an excellent addition to the field! I’ve never seen a Shiny exhibit such extraordinary power before! So, what do you say?”

Both Changkyun and Hoseok instinctively swung an arm up to cover the pup in question, Minhyuk seemed taken aback by the action, “Sorry, we’re not interested.” Changkyun laughed nervously.

Minhyuk straightened his posture and chuckled, “That’s okay, I understand! I wouldn’t want to be separated from my sweet little baby neither!” Minhyuk exclaimed, said  _ sweet little baby _ rested itself gently atop Minhyuk’s head and chimed out a tune. “I love you so much, I could cry.”

Changkyun withdrew his hand and giggled at the sight, maybe that was an overreaction on his part. Minhyuk looked to be a friendly guy who cared a lot about Pokémon, maybe he could trust this stranger after all. 

**……….**

There is no way in hell Hoseok could trust his lemony-looking motherfucker.

Like, what are the odds of some suspiciously conspicuous dude waltzing in at all the right moments amidst a massive  _ Shiny Pokémon _ abduction scheme  _ just  _ to swoon over a Shiny Pokémon -- to then go on and ask if said Shiny Pokémon could join in on shady research project --  _ NOT  _ being involved in that in some way, shape, or form? 

Low. Those odds are so low they’re practically digging themselves into the ground. Oh no. Hoseok did not like this  _ one bit _ . 

“Say,” Hoseok said in a moment of morbid curiosity, something akin to irritation lacing his words, “speaking of Shiny Pokémon, have you heard about what’s been going on around here lately?” Changkyun glanced at him with a tinge of worry on his features, he made sure to give him a small closed-mouth smile of reassurance, it seemed to calm the younger. Minhyuk cocked his head to the side with a  _ hmm _ , Castform tilting along with the same happy expression on its face. 

“There’s been a string of Pokémon abduction in Pueltown recently, all of them seem to be Shinies.” Minhyuk seemed to sober up, his cheerful disposition changed to that of seriousness almost instantly. 

Hoseok stiffened in place.  _ Well damn… I didn’t actually want to be rig- _

And as abrupt as a Spring shower, Castform’s form changed to its Rainy counterpart as Minhyuk’s frown deepened. 

“What just happened?” Changkyun asked, sounding in awe despite the tense atmosphere. 

“I’m upset.” Minhyuk casually said.

“I got that, but why did your Castform just… do that?” 

Minhyuk only shrugged.

Changkyun  _ hmm’d _ in thought, “Do you mind if I… uh…” he said, taking his Pokédex off his belt. Castform nodded its consent. 

_ “Castfrom: The Weather Pokémon! An artificial Pokémon. It’s appearance changes with the weather, its molecules have been found to be just like water!” _ The Pokédex informed. 

“Artificial Pokémon?” Hoseok queeried. 

“I’ll… explain later…” Changkyun chuckled, putting the tool back on his belt. “But why did it change so suddenly? There isn’t a rain cloud in sight.” 

Minhyuk blinked, “Oh! That’s what you meant, lol!” He said, once again, verbally saying textual abbreviations, but they way he spoke sounded almost strained. “Casty has been with me for a long-ass time, overtime he just started changing along with my emotions, not sure why, though.” 

“That’s because your emotions are damn force of nature.” Came the voice of another man, the three looked up to see a guy in a… gray bellhop uniform… approach with a Combee buzzing in tow; thick, black sunglasses concealing his eyes - Hoseok could sense him squinting in annoyance. “Why are you sad now?”

“Because I feel a lot of things, Jooheon!” Minhyuk whined, Castform joining in with an equally shrill noise. 

The man, Jooheon, only sighed at the outburst before turning to the other two at the table and bowing apologetically. “I am so sorry if my associate has ruined your meal, I will try harder in the future to make sure he doesn’t stray too far from my watch.” Minhyuk rolled his eyes in an extreme manner, but the small grin on his face said otherwise - Castform seemed to pick up on the slight change in demeanor; in a blink he was back to his Sunny form. 

“For your information, we just learned some shocking info, Honey.” Minhyuk muffled through a pout, Jooheon sighed once more, asking him to continue. “Shiny Pokémon are being abducted.” Jooheon’s expression seemed to fall.

“What?”

“Hoseok here just informed me, it’s heartbreaking.” 

Jooheon speechlessly nodded.

“Oh! How rude of us! Changkyun, Hoseok, this is my work husband Jooheon and his baby Combee!” Minhyuk exclaimed, switching the topic completely - Hoseok was sure to take note of that.

“What did I tell you about calling me that?”

“That you like it because it’s one-hundred percent true?”

“Try. Again.” 

“Work hubby.”

“Minhyuk!”

Changkyun waved in greeting, looking a bit overwhelmed with how loud the current conversation has gotten, Hoseok placed a hand on the younger’s knee and gave it a light squeeze. He seemed to jump a bit in response, but sighed in relief when he saw the source of the touch, Changkyun visibly calmed. 

“Nice to meet you, your research sounds fascinating!” Changkyun stammered out, Hoseok frowned slightly,  _ still nervous when talking to new people… but he’s getting better! _

Jooheon nodded in his direction before turning an irritated glance back to Minhyuk, “This looks like a lovely lunch place and all, but do I have to remind you that we still have to work to do?” Minhyuk groaned before standing up and stretching out his back and waving him off.

“Yeah, yeah. I know, Honey - I was just taking a break.” Minhyuk said, waving a farewell to the duo, “Good luck on your journey, fellas!”

“I don’t get paid enough to deal with you.”

“But you love me!”

Jooheon only sighed.

“Well, they’re quite… something.” Changkyun chuckled once the eccentric pair was out of earshot. 

“Yeah, something.” Hoseok hummed, the exchange still not sitting right with him. He glanced over at Changkyun once more to see him cleaning his Pokémon’s faces with a fatherly gleam.  _ No sense in making him worry about this right now… _ Hoseok supposed, the man had to deal with enough unnecessary anxiety today to begin with… and what a long day it’s been. 

“Say, how about we pack up the rest of the food and look for a place to settle down for the evening?” Hoseok suggested.

Changkyun shrugged, “Sure, did you see an inn on the way here?”

Hoseok shook his head, smile on his face, “Nope!”

Changkyun tilted his head to the side with an amused look, “What do you have in mind?”

“Camping!”

“Camping?”

“Yeah! Just outside the town in the forest! It’s the traveling experience, it’ll be fun!” 

“We didn’t even bring a-” Just as Changkyun was about to utter his statement, Hoseok pulled a tent kit out of his large backpack and smiled, “tent. How did you get that in there?!”

“Very carefully! Now come on, let’s go!” Hoseok jumped to his feet and grabbed Changkyun’s wrist, pulling him up and down the sidewalk, the Pokémon following along with varying degrees of excitement.

**……….**

Much as the sun sets after a long day of casting its warming rays across the land, the moon rises to illuminate our paths by night. As hard as she tries, though, the moon can’t cover as much as her partner, leaving behind a multitude of shadows in the light she does cast, but just because the light goes out momentarily in these vast places doesn’t mean what’s covered in dusk is bad. There are two sides to everything, as we all know. 

Not every shadow is soaked in darkness.

**……….**

“It’s  _ very _ rude to pull people out of conversations like that, you know.”

“It’s also  _ very _ rude to run off twenty minutes before an important phone meeting.” 

The flighty man in question blew some stray hair out of his eyes so he could roll them theatrically at the man beside him. He wasn’t wrong  _ per say _ , but Minhyuk would be damned if he would admit he was one hundred percent in the wrong. In a way, his impromptu run-and-chat was a good thing, because not only was the information he gathered unmeasurably concerning, it affected his work. 

For years now, Minhyuk engrossed himself in the field of Shiny Pokémon! Not the theory-proving science-y stuff -- he doesn’t think he’s smart enough to fully grasp all that -- but the exciting work that involved talking to people and informing them how incredible Shiny Pokémon are was what he  _ truly _ found joy in! Even if didn’t  _ always _ meet the parameters of his job, i.e. getting actual clients to join the research department… he still enjoyed getting to travel and meet so many people and Pokémon with his closest friend Jooheon; who was currently giving him a  _ very _ unamused expression. It would be a hell of a lot more intimidating if he didn’t already know Jooheon is a sentient marshmallow - Minhyuk  _ really _ wanted to poke his cheek right now, but he figured he was in deep enough water as is. 

“It’s troubling, don’t you think?” Minhyuk asked switching the topic and overall tone of the conversation. Jooheon face scrunched in an unreadable way, Minhyuk’s known him long enough to know he’s concerned as well. 

“It is.” He simply said, but his voice was filled with emotion, “We should bring this up with the boss, because, not to sound impersonal, but it does make us look suspect.” 

Minhyuk felt a chill run up his spine, “I didn’t even think about it that way.”  _ Maybe that’s why those two were so cautious earlier…  _ Minhyuk felt bad now, he wanted to go back and apologize for making them feel so uneasy, but Jooheon was right - they have more important matters at hand at the moment.

The flashy duo made their way through the doors of the hotel they’ve been occupying since arriving in Almia a few short weeks ago. It was a tiny little room, but this place in Pueltown is  _ worlds  _ better than the cabin in Hia Valley their boss originally suggested they stay in; besides, they are (in Minhyuk’s mind) the company’s best recruiters, it would be  _ a shame to keep us holed up in an iceberg  _ \- or so Minhyuk insisted; and he was a very difficult person to argue against. 

Even though he loved this company to pieces, there were just some things he could not do, and spending his days in an arctic wasteland ranked high on the list - right next to the request for them to stop wearing those  _ “atrocious eyesores you two call clothes, my goodness you two are going to blind someone” _ , Minhyuk could not see their point, therefore, they were wrong. 

The harsh criticism of their fashion was really the only problem Minhyuk had with SHINee over the past six years he’s been with them, this company has been a huge chunk of his life - he isn’t really sure where he’d be if it weren’t for the fellowship he’s found here. Probably wandering aimlessly on a riverbank somewhere looking for purpose, totally not dramatic at all. He knows it’s the same for Jooheon as well. Minhyuk clings onto Jooheon’s shoulder as they took a seat on an armchair that was too small for two people to be sharing, but neither one of them really cared. 

“So, how do we break it to him that we’ve done nothing productive this week and all our juniors are surpassing us in every field except fashion?” Minhyuk sighed, resting his head on Jooheon’s shoulder as Castform and Combee took up residency on Minhyuk’s.

Jooheon leaned with the additional weight, but didn’t move nor complain, “I think you’re forgetting Mark, he knows how to dress…” 

“Oh damn, you’re right,” Minhyuk whined, feigning animosity, “the younger generation is better than us in every way it seems.” Jooheon giggled at that - Arceus… did Minhyuk love that sound. 

The ringing of Jooheon’s phone pulled them out of their conversation, the pair gulped. It’s not that they were scared to answer, their regional boss was just intimidating as all hell, and they didn’t exactly have any positive updates prepared for him this week. Fortunately for them, Taemin often operated with an air of benevolence, so maybe they can walk away with a  _ “try better next time” _ and call it a night.

“Good evening, sir!” Jooheon answered, not letting the phone exceed three rings.

“Jooheon, Minhyuk, I hope you two are well.” Taemin’s voice echoed over the static of the phone.

“Having fun in the sun, sir!” Minhyuk saluted the device, Jooheon rolled his eyes.

“Don’t let his excitement fool you, sir, we are working hard.” 

“Excellent to hear. I assume you want to hop right into your status report then?” They could practically  _ hear _ the smirky eyebrow raise through the speaker. The duo fidgeted in their seats.

“About that,” Minhyuk chuckled nervously, “we haven’t had any luck with recruitment this week…”

“Uh huh…”  _ Oh… he doesn’t sound amused.  _ “Can you at least tell me how many Shinies you’ve come across while in Puel?”

“Only two, a Dewgong, but we only got to see that one from afar, his partner was  _ really _ hard to make contact with.” Jooheon said, Taemin bordely hummed in acknowledgement. 

“And the Poochyena!” Minhyuk added.

“Poochyena?” Taemin asked, interest apparent in his tone. 

“Yeah! Cutest little baby I’ve ever seen, battles like a beast! You should have seen her-”

“Were you able to acquire it?” Taemin abruptly cut him off.

“Sad to say that’s a negative, sir. The Pooch’s partner wasn’t interested in the program, which is understandable, of course - they seemed really close-”

“Why didn’t you just take it?”

Minhyuk felt his blood run cold. He turned to Jooheon who had the same shell shocked expression on his face. 

“S-sir-?”

“Do you  _ know _ how rare Shiny Poochyena are? How could you miss such a great opportunity to have one of them!?” Taemin all but shouted. 

“With all due respect sir, we can’t just take someone’s Pokémon!” Minhyuk stammered in shock.

“You can and you will.” Their boss said before ending the call, leaving the two men to stare at each other.

Shocked.

Speechless.

There was no other way to describe how they were feeling. No dictionary could put to words how utterly gutted they felt. Neither one of them had to say it, they both knew what it meant… they just didn’t want it to be true.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOW, I never meant for this to go so long without an update… I didn’t think I’d be traveling as much as did, but hey, it gave me some inspiration for the smaller bits in this chapter! Hope I can start being a bit more consistent with updates now, we’re definitely looking at bi-monthly updates, baby! 
> 
> But y’all, I’m going to be real with you, every time I sit down to write a chapter I say “I’m not making this one super long, I’m going to stay around 8k” only for it to be at LEAST 200 words longer than the last… I never meant to make 10k+ chapters, guys, it just sort of happened… lol oops.
> 
> Extra Notes:
> 
> -If you think Min & Joo’s Ongshimi ensemble wasn’t the inspiration for this whole fucking fic, then buddy, you are dead.ass.wrong.   
> -There’s really nothing that can fully disprove Castform changing along with Min’s mood and I think that’s… neat  
> -Listen… I’m not original at all… I was brainstorming organization names for hours but couldn’t come up with anything clever… then Ring Ding Dong came on shuffle and all the pieces fell into place


	4. Enter The Rangers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rangers and Trainers and Mysterious Strangers... oh my...

We’ve come to an interesting point in our journey where the state of current events concerns more than the lives of our two young heroes. Unbeknownst to them, tensions are slowly starting to rise in a battle that is becoming ever too eminent. Let’s peek into the life of a man working behind the scenes to drag this unnamed darkness into the light.

Let’s meet our new hero!

**……….**

There’s only so many times you can review a clipboard with a single sheet of paper on it, but Shownu was somehow able to make every readthrough as interesting as the last. And by _interesting_ he, of course, means _dreadful_. It was a long list of names, three columns worth, all of them victims to what boils down to be a regretfully obvious Pokémon abduction scheme. 

It started out as a blip on his radar; Pokémon go missing all the time, no biggie - just send out a Ranger for a search and cross it off their ever expanding to-do list. But after sending Ranger after Ranger out and all of them coming up with nothing, well, that was a cause for concern. It didn’t take long for the cases to pile up on his desk. Over the course of one week more than seventy Pokémon in several towns have reported missing Pokémon . And the kicker? They’re all Shinies. Now, Shownu has been thankful to have bared no witness to organized crime since donning his Ranger uniform, so he has no experience in identifying this kind of thing… but if it walks and talks like a Psyduck. 

With the number of cases rising by the hour, Shownu decided it was high time he gathered everyone together and come up with a solution to what he is willing to call an epidemic. 

“Stop looking so broody, it’ll age ya faster.”

Shownu’s clipboard went airborne as he jumped in surprise at the sudden voice that echoed from behind him and- oh, it was only Crawford. “Oh, it’s you.”

“ _Oh, it’s you._ The damage that dealt, ouch.” Crawford feigned hurt, “I’ve never seen you spook before, you must be tense.” He said, with a little more seriousness. 

“I didn’t call the all Leaders together for tea, sir.” Shownu sighed.

“What did I tell you about using the S-word? We’re all equals here, Nunu, don’t ever forget that.” Crawford chided.

“I thought you said it’s because it makes you feel old?”

“Make him feel old, he deserves it.” Minnie said, walking into the room and taking a seat. 

“INSUBORDINATION!”

“I thought we were all equals here?” Shownu chuckled, setting his clipboard down on the table beside him as Crawford and Minnie bickered about age and rank. _This is going to be a long day._

And a long day it was. The last of the meeting’s attendees didn’t walk through the door until five minutes ago and Shownu was already on his fourth cup of coffee… and it was 11:00A.M. Arceus rest his soul. 

Shownu was buzzing by the time the other three leaders -- of the Altru City, Celebitown, and Vientown Depots -- and their co-Rangers all took their seats. He’s so used to attending these meetings, not leading them. _Now or never, I guess._ Shownu looked over to his trusted Mechanic, Yeosang, and gave him a thumbs up; the young man jumped in his seat, clearly having been distracted, and started up the projector. The wall behind Shownu lit up, casting the room in a soft green glow as a growing number of reports and statistical charts filled the screen. A range of gasps filled the room as they all took in the information on the board. 

“As you can see… we have a problem…” Hyunwoo stated, hoping this was a sufficient enough way to open such a discussion.

“Understatement of the century…” Came the leader of the Celebitown Depot.

“Sarcasm doesn’t suit you, Namjoon.” Crawford chastised, flicking the young Leader on the back of his head. 

Namjoon hardly winced, “Am I wrong though? It’s one thing to see the case counts for our own districts, but added up and put together?” He seemed to trail off in thought, expression downcast.

“As much as I hate to agree with Mr. Crawford, this is certainly a matter we should be serious about.” Said the young Altru Ranger, Shuhua.

“You’re new around here, huh?” Minnie yawned. “So, Shownu, I’m sure you didn’t invite us all here to scare us… what’s the game plan?” _Quick to the point as usual…_

Shownu cleared his throat awkwardly, “That’s exactly why I called you all here: to come up with one.” A hush of silence fell over the room, it was so quiet you could hear the paper cup Namjoon dropped.

“The great Son Hyunwoo doesn’t have a plan?” 

That’s exactly what Shownu was afraid of. For as long as he’s been a Ranger, hell, even when he was still in _Ranger School_ , Shownu has always been the man with the plan. So standing here now, massive crisis on his hands with his peers looking at him for some form of guidance… he felt overwhelmed.

“Oh please, he already did the groundwork, compiled all the information, and called us together. What more do you want from him? We are more than capable of brainstorming a plan together.” Came a rather crass voice. Hyunwoo wasn’t too sure who this guy was aside from his title as Leader of the Altru Depot.

“Charming as ever, Yoo.” Namjoon scoffed. 

“Kiki is right and you know it, Joon.” Crawford sighed, kicking his feet up like he owned the place. _So it seems everyone has been acquainted with him except me…_

The man in question carried a neutral expression of apathy, like everything he’s just heard over the past ten minutes was utter noise to him; with the air of seriousness this man had, it probably did. However, the Pachirisu poking its head out of his buttoned uniform served to ease his intimidating demeanor. Shownu has known of this _Yoo Kiki_ for less than half an hour, but already he seemed like an enigma. 

“It’s Kihyun.” 

_Yoo Kihyun…_

“Same thing,” Crawford waved. “Anyway, Joon, if you’re going to passive-aggressively criticize Nunu for not knowing what to do, then you should be just as hard on me for being fifteen years your senior and not knowing shit.” Another silence fell over the room, very rarely did Crawford swear, but when he did you could bet he was thoroughly irritated. 

Namjoon bowed his head in apology and let Shownu continue with the meeting.

“Not to say I don’t have a plan… it’s just this, whatever this is, touches more than Puel. It would be wrong of me to implement a plan that would affect all of you without discussing whether or not this is the appropriate course of action.” Hyunwoo scratched nervously at the back of his head. It was true he came up with _something_ , but he’s never had to formulate a plan on such an enormous scale before. It was a daunting task to say the least.

“If that’s the case, tell us what you got.” Kihyun said, crossing his arms below the lump of Pachirisu and leaned back in his seat. Something about his words and stance felt like a challenge, Shownu shifted awkwardly under Kihyun’s gaze; he had to briefly tell himself to suck it up and speak. 

“Well, I was thinking, since such a large number of Pokémon are missing, they have to be somewhere. A hideout, a base, something. I was thinking that we double up on patrol and enlist the help of the police to search larger complexes. Really knuckle down on the heavily affected areas -- that being Puel, Altru, and Celebi -- and leave no stone unturned.”

“That’s actually a pretty good plan.” Minnie applauded. 

“I think it’s horribly flawed.” Kihyun deadpanned. Shownu felt his brain shatter like a porcelain plate. 

“Kihyun!” Several Rangers yelled, but the man seemed unphased. 

Shownu struggled to pull together his thoughts long enough to ask a simple question, “How so?”

“Arceus, where do I even start,” Kihyun sighed. “First off, you’re incredibly naive if you think they’re going to hole up the Pokémon hoard in one of the towns they abducted them from. It’s absolute nonsense to concentrate our efforts on the affected areas, because who’s to say they’ll _stay_ in those areas? Also take into consideration they’re targeting a rare type of Pokémon - that metaphorical well is sure to dry up eventually.” 

_Okay, those are some great points…_

“Second, if there are as many cases as there are in such a short amount of time, then that means they either have the numbers to execute such an elaborate abduction, or the brains to plan it all out - worst case scenario is they have both. We could be looking at a whole organization.” 

The very mention of possible organization behind this didn’t bode well with any one of the Rangers.

Kihyun didn’t let the new tense atmosphere stop him from finishing, “If we want to get these Pokémon back and stop whatever abduction scheme you want to codename it, we have to have a widely enforced plan.” 

Kihyun was making a lot of sense, Shownu was almost embarrassed for not taking all of that into consideration. “What do you suggest we do then?” He asked, hoping that _didn’t_ come across as snarky, he desperately needed the input. 

Kihyun smirked, straightening his posture for the plan he was about to propose, “We do everything you said, but extend our reach out to Boyleland, Chroma, Haruba, and Hia; maybe even the islands between the Capture Arena and the mainland.”

“Are you out of your mind? We don’t have the numbers for something like that?” Namjoon gaped. 

“No… he’s right.” Shownu said, and Kihyun’s smirk seemed to widen. And he was being honest, too. The plan Kihyun had in mind perfectly filled in the gaps Shownu’s original plan had - he wanted to see how they could work on this. 

“Unfortunately, I’m going to have to agree with Namjoon on this one.” Minnie frowned.

“Um? Ouch?”

Minnie ignored him, “There simply aren’t enough active duty Rangers in the region to fill the positions Kiki’s plan has. Worst case scenario: we get burnt out or spread too thin and the perps slip through the cracks. Not to mention Haruba, Boyle, and Hia are extremely understaffed as is.” She said. 

_Hmm, if it’s numbers we need we can just-_

“Then we’ll just call Sven.” Kihyun said. Shownu paused for a moment before letting a wild grin stretch across his face. He has a feeling he was going to like this guy.

“Ugh, do we _have_ to call Sven?” Crawford groaned, sinking down in his seat to emphasize his point. _Ah, right, Sven’s always stole his thunder on missions…_ Crawford could learn to live with his help, because right now they needed all hands on deck, and pulling in Sven -- the man largely in charge of training recently graduated Rangers -- was their best bet. 

“Uh huh, and because you’re so close with him, I’ll have you make that call!” Shownu smiled as his senior plopped himself on the floor like a child; Minnie looked about ready to scream. 

Namjoon relented, “Okay, even with Sven’s assistance, we’ll still be short a few dozen Rangers.”

Shownu sighed, because yeah, he was right. The only way they could fill out the rest of the positions would be to call the Union… but did they want to bring the Union into this yet? He took one more look at the board behind them and readied himself for the group’s response.

“Maybe we should contact the Union.”

Another silence fell over the room, because they all knew what bringing the Ranger Union into this met: it’s a bigger problem then they were able to handle; a real crisis that they let spiral. In a way it was almost like admitting defeat. 

But one person in the room didn’t see it that way. Kihyun let out a round of slow applause, “Now that sounds like a plan.” Shownu rubbed at the back of his neck and smiled shyly. Praise wasn’t something he’s always been good at receiving, but he takes it as a good sign they’re heading in the right direction. 

“I give,” Crawford sighed, “it’s our best option right now, but if I have to call Yeehaw Man, you have to call Chairperson Wendy.” _Ah, right, that’ll be fun…_ Shownu wouldn’t outright say he was _afraid_ of the former Flying Ranger turned Ranger Union Chairperson, but he _did_ do his internship at the Union, which immediately enrolled him in her Staraptor flying course… And he didn’t exactly have fond memories of that - let’s just say he’d prefer to have his feet on the ground, thank you very much.

“Sure, I can do that.” Shownu agreed. 

“Excellent.” Crawford clapped, “Now that leaves us with one last question.” He paused, waiting on everyone’s full attention. “Do we alert the public?”

That was an important question indeed, one with a different set of negative repercussions depending on which course of action they all approve. On one hand, if they tell the public the citizens would be on alert, they’ll be an extra set of eyes when they desperately need it - and they’ll be able to protect their Pokémon in the process. But the negative would be the culprits knowing they’re onto them, which could make the search difficult… And if they don’t tell the public? Nothing would change other than a larger Ranger presence and the high risk of even more Pokémon going missing. 

The answer was obvious to Shownu, but he still found himself looking to Kihyun for his input; after all, he’s been full of great ideas today. Kihyun huffed out a laugh, but it didn’t feel judgemental, “I’m sure you all ran through the pros and cons in your head… How do we want to drop the advisory?” 

“The only way we know how, I guess,” Crawford said, stretching out his arms and yawning, “the Almia Times.” 

_Obviously,_ Shownu found himself chuckling, everyone made sounds of agreement, save for Kihyun, who looked a bit… confused.

“The newspaper? Aren’t there better ways of getting the information out?” The whole room paused for a beat before bursting out in a chorus of laughter, even Shownu couldn’t hold back. Kihyun only furrowed his brows and frowned.

“Boss, can you please say things that _don’t_ make you sound like a total outsider.” Shuhua rolled her eyes, clearly fighting the urge to facepalm. _So he’s new around here, that explains why I haven’t seen him before._

“What did I say this time?” Kihyun looked like a lost teenager when he was bemused, Shownu couldn’t help but marvel at the drastic change in demeanor.

“Trust me, the Almia Times is the _most_ effective way of spreading information around here.” Shownu said, giving Yeosang the cue to shut down the board. “Yeosang, can you take the notes from the meeting down to Dami and have her write up an advisory for the Times?” The young Mechanic gave a tiny salute before exiting the meeting room. “Okay, unless anyone else has any questions or concerns, we can bring this meeting to a close.” _No hands are raised…_ “Awesome! Great meeting, everyone! Let’s keep in regular contact until we reach the end of this tragedy. Stay safe, everyone!” 

With the meeting officially closed, the Rangers filtered out of the room one by one, save for one person. Kihyun stood from his seat and set a course for Shownu and- _oh dear, he’s coming right at me._ Kihyun was a lot shorter than Shownu originally thought, with the confidence he had during the meeting, one would assume he towered over the rest. Kihyun was walking towards him with a swagger that had Shownu’s mouth feeling dry. _Good Arceus act natural…_

Shownu crossed his arms and leaned against the desk, trying and failing to come across as someone with overflowing confidence - Shownu wouldn’t dare say he’s great at talking to new people, but given his current position, he should try. Besides, Kihyun is someone he’s interested in wanting to know more about.

“I’ve been active Leader of the Puel Depot for three years now, but I have to be honest when I say that I have never seen you around before.” _That sounded natural… right?_

Kihyun rolled his eyes, but is accompanied with a hearty chuckle, “I’ve been in Altru for less than a year, I guess we never crossed paths.”

“Bad on my part, considering I’ve been a Leader here for a long while,” He scratched at the back of his neck in mild shame, “Where are you from and what brought you to our humble corner of the world?” 

Kihyun waved off his worries, “Don’t stress over it too much, you seem like a very busy guy.” He winked. _Um… fuck?!... Compose yourself, Hyunwoo._ “And I’m from Hoenn, a little place called Lilycove City. And as for why I’m here, well, I graduated from the Ranger School and did work for the Union for a bit…” He trailed off a bit there, and Shownu could sympathize, he has a feeling he had a few unwilling flying lessons during his time there as well. “Eventually I rose in rank and was offered a position at the Altru City’s new Depot, only after a certain Son Hyunwoo turned down the position, of course.” There was a playful smirk on his face and Shownu wasn’t exactly sure how to handle that. 

But that sure brought him back… Wendy had called him into the Union one morning and pointblank asked him if he wanted to lead the new Depot. Aside from Shownu wanting to stay here and protect the town he was born and raised in, the Altru position entailed a lot more than just _leading_. It was forging a new chapter for Almia, creating what was essentially a new system for Rangers in this new, bustling metropolis - Shownu didn’t think he was capable enough to do something so important. Meeting Kihyun and seeing his confidence and charm… Shownu was almost relieved someone like him was able to accept the call to action. 

“What can I say, I love this little town too much.” Shownu shrugged, “and please, call me Shownu.” He added, holding his hand out as an official greeting - Kihyun gladly reciprocated. 

“Yoo Kihyun. Never call me Kiki.” He smiled, there was something dangerous about the way he said that. Even though Shownu never entertained the nicknames Crawford made a habit of giving out, he took a mental note to never dare utter those two syllables. 

“Only if you never call me Nunu.” Shownu sighed.

Kihyun chuckled at that, rustling the Pachirisu in his uniform in the process. The small Pokémon stuck his little head out and glared at his partner for waking him from his slumber. Kihyun rolled his eyes, “Don’t give me that look, young man, you napped long enough.” Pachirisu stuck his tongue out and retreated back to his nap spot. Kihyun gave a resigned sigh. He gave Shownu an eyeroll, “Kids, am I right?”

Shownu couldn’t help but laugh at that, because he can very much relate, especially with the childish antics of his own partner; in fact, if he squinted, he could see Ursaring asking to be let in through the frosted glass windows of the meeting room. He whistled low, letting his giant baby know he could enter. And enter he did. Ursaring all but threw himself on Shownu, demanding his neck be rubbed. Kihyun jumped back in surprise at the massive Pokémon that abruptly came flying through the room. 

“Is… that you partner?” Kihyun shrillely asked. Shownu loved people’s reaction to his large mass of partner. 

“Yeah.” He smiled, “Say hi, Guma.” Ursaring bellowed out a loud growl that blew Kihyun’s hair back like a blow dryer, but with the initial shock of Ursaring barreling in already passed, the other Ranger hardly seemed phased at all. 

The shorter Ranger held out his hand and greeted Ursaring with a smile, “Nice to meet you, Guma!” He cooed. Ursaring looked back and forth between his paw and Kihyun’s outstretched hand then rumbled out what Shownu knows as a _happy growl_ , then shook Kihyun’s hand in delight. Shownu went wide-eyed at what was possibly the cutest interaction he’s ever seen before in his life. No exaggeration. 

Shownu has always heavily believed in the importance of first impressions - so let him go on record and say that Kihyun was knocking his out of the park. Not a lot of people try to connect with Ursaring on their first meeting -- usually people are terrified of him… hard to pin why -- so seeing Kihyun warmly start introductions was a special kind of heartwarming. Call Shownu crazy, but based off this meeting alone, he thinks he and Kihyun would work well together-

A lightbulb went off in Shownu’s head, it must have showed on his face too, because Kihyun raised his eyebrow in curiosity - urging him to continue. 

“How would you feel about staying in Pueltown and helping us pull this plan together?” Shownu wouldn’t say it was a completely random question brought on by a cute greeting with his partner Pokémon, but the actual need for assistance; because Arceus knows that Shownu will be doing the brunt work of this whole thing, and it would put his already heavy mind at ease knowing he has someone as capable as Kihyun working with him. 

Kihyun’s eyebrows shot up to his hairline, clearly not expecting such a question. He seemed to mull over it for a few moments before giving his answer. 

“I’ll have to check with Shuhua and make sure my team can handle a few days without me, but as of right now? I don’t see why not.” He smiled and Shownu found himself smiling back. 

“Great, then, I look forward to working with you!” Shownu said, in a way that may or may not have sounded _too_ enthusiastic. 

“Likewise!” Kihyun’s smile only grew wider. _Wow, this guy has an intoxicating smile…_ Shownu held out a hand to shake on the new team endeavor. Ursaring threw his hand on top of theirs, not wanting to be left out. “I look forward to working with you too, big guy.” 

  
  


**……….**

And thus begins the inevitable domino effect that has served to kickstart the “beginning of the end” so to speak. Let’s check back in with our main heroes to see how they’re doing.

**……….**

The wind kicked up a swirl of dust and dirt along the forest clearing. Changkyun could feel a bead of sweat trickled down the side of his face as he tried to catch his breath in this unrelenting Summer heat. To his left he sees Seedot skid to a stop - luckily, that last blow didn’t affect him too much. Changkyun still throws out a _“you good?”_ to make sure his little buddy is actually as okay as he looks; he sighs in relief when Seedot gives a hearty nod. _Excellent!_

Changkyun turns his attention back to his opponent in front of him, a Piplup and its Trainer. The Trainer was a guy who looked to be about his age and just as determined to win this match. He was a tough challenger, but Changkyun has the upper hand walking into this battle with a Grass Type. But with or without the slight advantage, Seedot was still struggling. Changkyun knows that Seedot is weaker in strength compared to the girls, but that’s exactly why his little guy needed a battle like this - not just to up his stats, but to raise his confidence. 

Piplup threw back its head, not wasting a moment in unleashing its next attack. Based on the sequence of attacks he’s seen so far, it’s safe to say the next attack will be a Bubble Beam… _Yup!_

“Dot!” Changkyun didn’t need to say much more for Seedot to hum his acknowledgment. Before the first bubble could even pass Piplup’s beak, Seedot was bounding forward for a Tackle. Piplup’s Trainer must have foreseen the movement, because within moments he was instructing Piplup to dodge, which it did. Piplup jumped up over the incoming Seedot and landed a single foot on his head, knocking the nut off balance and tumbling to the side. Seedot hummed in frustration before getting back into a fighting stance. The little nut has made leaps and bounds in his training, and Changkyun couldn’t be more proud of him!

The two Pokémon stared each other down with the same kind of competitive spirit that made Changkyun want to be a Trainer in the first place - he couldn’t help the wild smile that curled its way across his face. 

_That last hit made some damage…_ Judging on Seedot’s sluggish pace, at least. _Maybe it’s about time we try out that new move._

Changkyun tapped his foot to the ground three times and Seedot immediately turned his attention to his partner and nodded. Changkyun’s smile turned to a wicked smirk real quick. Seedot set a course for Piplup, dodging each bubble it continued to blow, until he stopped his feet and sent himself rolling the rest of the way. Piplup squeaked in surprise as it went to dodge, but Seedot rolled past. Piplup and its Trainer cocked their heads in confusion right before a shining spectacle of white and green light surrounded the players on the field. 

“Shit-!” The other Trainer yelled, but he was a second too late in alerting his Pokémon, because the Mega Drain had already done its job. Piplup swayed from side to side before plopping face first into the dirt. 

Piplup was out!

A chorus of cheers erupted from the sidelines as Hoseok and Buneary waved around makeshift pom-poms fashioned from tree leaves and- _oh, look at that, they have a whole dance choreographed_. Seedot ducked his head with a bashful noise at all the attention he was receiving. Changkyun ran forward and swept the nut up with words of praise.

“You did it, buddy! You got your first win!” Changkyun smiled, spinning them around in joy. Seedot sang out a little tune of glee and the Trainer couldn’t help but hug him closer.

“Congrats,” The other Trainer sighed, returning the dazed Piplup to its ball, “thanks for the battle!” He said, holding his hand out for a friendly handshake. Changkyun closed out the battle with proud shake and parting ways with the Trainer before skipping back over to his personal cheer squad. 

“Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think the pom-poms were here _before_ I started the battle.” Changkyun grinned, playful lilt in his voice. 

Hoseok smiled to cover the light blush on his face, “We saw some loose leaves on the ground and thought _why not_ , ya know?” He chuckled, rustling the poms for emphasis. “Congratulations, little one~” He cooed at Seedot, who was currently soaking up all the love. 

“You looked so cool out there, Kyun!” Hoseok added, looking at the Trainer with a twinkle in his eyes so pure that Changkyun could hardly believe it was directed at him. “You get this super intense look on your face when you’re focused on a battle and it’s just so…” Hoseok trailed off looking for the right words until he ultimately landed on _alluring_.

A blush creeped up Changkyun’s face, completely covering the pale yellow of his nearly healed bruise; he waved his hand around in a bashful manner, but Hoseok kept insisting, throwing them into a very odd cycle that even Seedot was growing tired of. The duo eventually dwindled their back and forth down to airy laughter. Nothing about their… _quirky_ exchanges left them with an air of awkwardness anymore, and that filled Changkyun with a bubble of something else, but he _really_ didn’t want to assess that right now. 

“Can we start heading back to the camp? I’m beat.” Changkyun stretched and yawned for emphasis. Hoseok rolled his eyes with a small smile as he guided Changkyun out of the forest by his shoulders.

“Okay, Mr. Trainer, let’s get you your beauty rest~” He cooed as they stepped out onto the main road and made way towards their tent. 

Changkyun huffed, “Whether or not I actually get sleep tonight is the million Pokédollar question.” 

“And what is that supposed to mean?” 

“You snore.”

“Do not!” He couldn’t see Hoseok, but he could tell he was pouting. 

“Like a thunderstorm.” Changkyun added, throwing in a theatrical demonstration of the other man’s snoring. Hoseok grumbled cutely - Changkyun wanted to turn around and pinch his cheeks, but he reframed when he saw a Ranger walking down the path carrying an armful of papers.

Hoseok peeked over his shoulder and greeted the Ranger, “Afternoon! Is that the paper?” He asked. 

She nodded, “Yep, it came off the press a little late, but they gotta go out, ya know?”

“So they make the Rangers hand out the paper here too?” 

“Unfortunately.” She sighed, handing him a copy of the Almia Times. 

Hoseok accepted the paper with a nod, “What do I owe ya?” The Ranger just waved a hand, “This ones free today, take care!” And then she was gone. 

Hoseok furrowed his eyebrows, “That’s concerning…”

“How so?” Changkyun asked, looking between the paper and the worry lacing his friend’s features. 

“The paper isn’t free unless there’s some kind of advisory- yup, there it is…” Hoseok said, frown deepening the more he read. There it was, plastered across the front page:

_RANGER UNION ADVISORY REPORT_

_Over the past 9 days, 78 cases of Shiny Pokémon abductions have been reported in 4 of Almia’s 9 districts. The affected areas are as listed:_

_Altru City_

_Celebitown_

_Pueltown_

_Vientown_

_In addition, many wild Pokémon along these areas have been reported missing as well. The Ranger Union is advising all citizens to be on high alert as Area Rangers work to locate and rescue the missing Pokémon and detain the culprits responsible._

_If you have any information about the abductions, or would like to report a missing Pokémon, please contact your local Ranger Depot._

  
  


Changkyun gulped as a wild chill ran up his spine. The hairs on his arms stood up from the sheer terror of it all. It was one thing to just be told about it from a Ranger, the illusion of it being on such a small scale had lulled Changkyun into a mindset of disregard after a few days, but now… Now a massive warning was on the front page of the region’s most trusted newspaper (as he has been told), it felt real. Not that it wasn’t real to begin with… just… more imminent. And that thought shook Changkyun to his core.

He looked up to Hoseok to find some sense of grounding only to find the man already looking back at him with an expression that was hard to describe, but the wave of feeling it hit Changkyun with left the young Trainer feeling nothing but reassurance. The fog of anxiety dissipated leaving Changkyun with a new found confidence. 

“We’re going to be okay.” Changkyun said in a steady voice, looking between Seedot still tucked in his hold and his dear friend. Hoseok smiled wild and discarded the paper in his backpack before throwing an arm around the younger’s shoulder, squishing him closely to his side in a half embrace. 

“That’s absolutely correct, and don’t you forget it!” Hoseok sang out, Buneary hopped up on his shoulder and joined in on the impromptu tune. Changkyun giggled at the pair’s antics, but he couldn’t deny that he felt so incredibly safe right now. He looked up once more at the beaming man and felt a whole other feeling seize his chest. Whispering a million _thank yous_ could never convey the trust Changkyun has for this man.

**……….**

With the public now aware of the shadows lurking in the corners, it’s only natural that this affects more than our heroes.

**……….**

“Oh, this is so bad…” Jooheon feebly stated, clutching the newspaper with trembling hands. 

Minhyuk placed his hands carefully over the other’s, almost begging him to calm down. He knows the younger man has never handled stress well, and right now was probably the most stressful moment of their career. 

It was difficult for the both of them to fathom such an act of evil. Even harder to think they may have unknowingly had a hand in all of this. Minhyuk shook his head slightly, _no, this has to be some kind of a misunderstanding…_ That’s the only thing he was able to rationalize in his frazzled state. 

They both have been with SHINee for far too long for this… this _atrocity_ to be connected to the pure-hearted work and research they’ve been aiding in for all of their adult lives. _That’s right! He just misheard Taemin, he didn’t really mean to just abduct a Pokémon from its home, right?_

Minhyuk lifted a hopeful gaze to Jooheon who, as if he had read his mind, shook his head, “There’s no way around it, Min… SHINee _has_ to be involved, what Taemin said can’t be a-”

“Have a little more faith in our company, Jooheon!” Minhyuk said. There wasn’t any bite to his words, just tiredness. It was exhausting to be teetering on the edge of a moral dilemma, and Minhyuk definitely wasn’t coping well with the stress of it all. 

“I understand where you’re coming from, but we can’t just ignore this… we have to take what we know into consideration…”

“And what do we know?” Minhyuk said bitterly, “That he said to get the Poochyena in a demanding tone, yeah. But what if he was just irritated with us and said that to drive his point home?” Jooheon frowned. “I’ve been here for six years… this is everything I know, Joo. I can’t just lose hope like that!”

Something in Jooheon seemed to snap, “And you think that isn’t the same for me?” He rose his voice barely above a yell. Minhyuk recoiled at the outburst - Jooheon never gets upset like this. “In case you forgot, I’ve been here just as long as you! In fact, you’re the reason I’m here in the first place. I don’t even know where I’d be without this company - So believe me when I say I’m doing my _best_ to remain hopeful! Things are just adding up a little too well.”

He wasn’t wrong when he said things were adding up. Hearing their boss say some incredibly suspect things after finding out about the abductions, then going to read it started happening the same week they all got to Almia… The more Minhyuk thought about it, the worse it got. He grit his teeth in frustration, a tear of his strain racing down his cheek. Castform sang out a dismayed note phasing into his standard form as a stormcloud of despair swirled around Minhyuk’s mind. 

Jooheon inhaled sharply, he timidly grabbed at his friend’s hands and muttered out countless apologies, “I’m sorry, Min, I don’t know what came over me. I’m so sorry.” His voice wavered on emotional. Despite the situation and high emotions, Minhyuk huffed out half a laugh, before leaning his whole weight against Jooheon’s chest and wrapping him in a tight hug. 

“Don’t. I was out of line.” He muffled against his shirt, Jooheon held Minhyuk secure against him and rubbed his back. “But we do have to at least confirm our suspicions. Innocent until proven guilty… right.” There wasn’t an ounce of strength in his voice and that alone sent a few tears cascading down Jooheon’s cheeks. 

“Yeah… we can do that.”

-

There weren’t really a whole lot of people they could speak with _immediately_ on the matter. Save for one. And luckily for Minhyuk and Jooheon, the guy they needed was in the same town as them right now. Meeting under the supervision of the moon didn’t exactly make the situation feel any less criminal, but it was the only time Mark would agree to. He waltzed into the humble park with a Staravia in tow… _How long has he had a Staravia?_ The Pokémon in question glimmered under the moonlight with a familiar glow. _A shiny?_ Minhyuk was too preoccupied with their current crisis to make mention of it. 

Mark was a precarious one. He was young, hardly an adult - and here he was, also, _probably_ , caught up in some kind of illegal mess. The young man greeted them with a casual _sup_ , if the situation wasn’t so daunting, Minhyuk might have playfully scolded him for being so nonchalant with his superiors. 

“So how’s it going on y’all’s end?” Mark yawned, “Everything okay? You never call me out like this unprompted.” He looked them up and down with a questioning stare. Minhyuk floundered for an answer; lucky for him, Jooheon already had something prepared. 

“We got some orders from the boss that were not sure how to follow up with, and we wanted to ask you before asking him to explain like a bunch of idiots, ya feel?” Minhyuk wanted to argue the _bunch of idiots_ line, but reframed. 

“Okay? Shoot.”

“He asked us to essentially kidnap a Pokémon from its owner, and we’re not sure if he meant actually _take_ the Pokémon, or…” Jooheon said with caution, not wanting to shock the poor kid. 

But he didn’t seem phased. 

“He obviously meant for you to take it…” Mark rolled his eyes. Rolled his eyes! Minhyuk felt his blood run cold. “I’d be careful, though. The authorities seem to be catching on now.” He sighed.

Minhyuk did his best to keep his expression neutral, _good thing I left Casty at the hotel…_ He looked at Jooheon to see where he’s at, and to the untrained eye, he looked about as passive as they come, but Minhyuk could tell he was doing his best to keep it together.

“Since when do we just _take_ Pokémon?” Minhyuk blurted on impulse, immediately regretting his outburst. Mark looked at him with a raised eyebrow before he started chuckling. 

“Very funny, Minhyuk.” Minhyuk only looked at him with a shocked expression he couldn’t hold back anymore. “Oh, damn, you didn’t know? Yikes!” Mark laughed off. “Well, since always, I guess?”

Minhyuk dug his gloved fingers into his palm to keep himself grounded… _This can’t be happening this can’t be happening this can’t be happening this-_

“And you’re just okay with this?” Jooheon asked, barely above a whisper. 

Mark shrugged the question off like it was the most simple thing ever, “They’re just Pokémon, so it's whatever I guess?” Minhyuk wanted to throw up. “Anyway, I need to get going - got a busy day tomorrow. I suggest y’all talk to Mr. Boss Man, though…” He said, turning on his heel and leaving with a wave. 

Minhyuk could feel his entire world crash down around him like a violent hail storm. He looked to Jooheon who appeared to be at his limit. The younger man fell to his knees in a state of shock and cried out a stream of tears in front of his veil of silent sobs. Minhyuk rushed to his side and supported the trembling man the best he could. Minhyuk combed through his friend’s hair as he whispered calming words into his ear. Jooheon eventually calmed down enough to where his thoughts and words weren’t a steep mountain to overcome, he clutched at the back of Minhyuk’s coat and looked into his equally bloodshot eyes and asked the most gut-wrenching question Minhyuk had ever heard.

“M-min… we’re the bad guys, aren’t we?”

**……….**

With the daunting task of creating a checklist, going through said checklist, and making sure he’s not forgetting _a single damn potion this time_ ; Changkyun could say without a doubt in his mind that he’s ready to take on the Pueltown Gym!

“Um, actually, wait…” Hoseok said, sliding an extra water bottle into Changkyun’s already brimming bag. The action -- unnecessary considering he has two bottles in their already -- was still incredibly sweet. Changkyun smiled at the sincerity of it. “There! All set!” 

“It’s a Water Type Gym, I doubt I’ll be that thirsty.” Changkyun teased, then again… Gunhee certainly is… _something_ … He pushed the thought out of his mind and zipped up the bag and threw it over his shoulder, teetering slightly with the weight. Hoseok held him upright as he helps readjusted the straps, chuckling out something about strength training.

“As they say, better safe than sorry~” Hoseok said, far too sage-like for a man who was currently holding the gaudiest pair of sparkly pom-poms in his hands - Buneary, sitting on his shoulder with an even tinier pair of sparkly pom-poms, wasn’t adding anything to the air of responsibility he was trying to emit. That was just Hoseok’s charm, though. 

Changkyun punched him lightly on the shoulder with a huff of laughter, hurting his hand in the process, before setting out for the Gym. Hoseok jogged up beside him to continue the rather short path to the Gym. It was only across the street, but the rush of anxiety had it feeling like a mile. Changkyun knew Gunhee was going to be a tough opponent, so in many ways he was doubting whether or not him and his team could pull this off. 

A hand came to rest on his shoulder once they reached the entrance, of course it was Hoseok, looking at him with those cheerful eyes and giving him the encouraging words he needed to hear to make it through the threshold; a feeling of deja vu overtook him as he thought back to a week before when he was about to challenge the Vientown Gym. Not a lot of time has passed, but Changkyun already felt like a new person. He placed his hand over Hoseok’s and took a deep breath before pushing the door open, hoping he’ll be able to enter every Gym with this surge of confidence that only his friend could provide. 

This time stepping into the Gym was about how he pictured it would have been the first time. A bright flash of light blinded him the second the door cracked open, taking the Trainer aback, but once Changkyun’s eyes adjusted his breath caught in his throat as he took in the Gym before him. This was unlike anything he’s ever heard of in respect to Gym layouts - half of him even wondered if he was in the right place, but Gunhee’s silhouette, standing in front of a massive window letting in all the Gym’s light, stood tall. Changkyun shielded his eyes from the light to get a better look at the Leader standing across the field from him, Gunhee gave a wave accompanied by a cocky smirk. Changkyun almost choked on his spit at the challenges that were waiting in front of him.

“Well… it's a good thing I learned how to swim…” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THERE! I gave you Kihyun, go, FETCH! But for real, I love Ranger Kihyun so much, he’s so fun to write. But uhhhh yeah, all the MX guys have been introduced to the story! Speaking of the story…. This may very well be the shortest chapter I’m capable of writing… Nevertheless, thank you for reading! Leave a kudos and a comment if you feel so inclined~
> 
> Side-side note: I know I don’t have to say this, but go send our Joohoney some love, he’s such a strong guy and deserves nothing but the best!
> 
> -This chapter we have mention of two more characters from the Almia game: Sven and (my wife) Wendy. Y’all are one google search away from seeing how fuckin wild those two are. (also wanted to clarify this in case any of you thought this was Red Velvet’s Wendy)  
> -The game’s heavily implied importance of their damn newspaper is something that makes me laugh to this day. This easter egg was bit more ambiguous so I thought it best to make note of it  
> -Ursaring’s nickname Guma comes from the Japanese name for Ursaring, that being: Ringuma  
> -Yeah that’s NCT Mark


	5. The Pueltown... Gym?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Changkyun faces the Pueltown Gym and finds this Trainer thing may be more than he bargained for. Kihyun confronts a ghost from his past. And Jooheon struggles to uncover the skeletons in their closet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some quick trigger warnings for the latter half of the chapter that can be seen as a spoiler: 
> 
> tw: semi-graphic discussions of animal cruelty   
> tw: minor mentions of anxiety symptoms  
> tw: minor descriptions of blood and injuries

When we last left our heroes, young Changkyun had just stepped through the doorway of the Pueltown Gym! It’s going to be a tough fight ahead, but let’s watch on with mirth as he takes one more step towards realizing his Trainer dream!

**……….**

To say this looked like a Gym would be a farfetched statement, but Changkyun supposes that what makes a Gym a  _ Gym _ is the Leader you need to defeat… but this was definitely stretching it.

“Are… you seeing what I’m seeing?” Hoseok asked, just as taken aback as Changkyun is.

“The ginormous water-themed obstacle course that looks like it has a body count? Yes… I’m seeing it…” Changkyun gulped a fresh serving of spit as he assessed this  _ deathtrap _ that stood before his eyes.  _ This can’t be real…  _

“Hello, welcome to the Pueltown Gym!” A cheery voice said, knocking Changkyun out of haze. A short, blonde woman not much older than him bowed her head in greeting, “My name is Melody and I’ll be explaining the rules of the Gym to you today.” Changkyun nodded reluctantly. 

“The rules are very simple: to beat the Gym, you have to survive the obstacle course and defeat the Leader!”

_ Survive!? _

“If you fall or get knocked off the obstacle course, you  _ must _ come back to the safe points located in between obstacles and try again. Once you reach the end of the obstacle course is when your battle with the Leader begins! To win, you must either knock out the Leader’s Pokémon or knock his Pokémon into the water - be advised, once a Pokémon is in the water they will be unable to continue battling, conscious or not.” 

_ Well,  _ that _ was a lot to take in… _ The Pueltown Gym essentially took everything Changkyun knew about Pokémon Gyms and chucked it out the window with violent force. He looked between the kind woman in front of him and the obstacle course and gulped once more. 

“Okay… let’s do this.” He said with false confidence, Hoseok offered him a reassuring pat on the back, but even that wasn’t enough to hype the semi-terrified Trainer up.

“Excellent!” Melody chimed, pulling a sheet of paper and a pen from her coat pocket, “I’ll need you to sign this before you can begin!”

_ Sign a paper? _

“Um, sure,” Changkyun said, accepting the form, “what am I signing, exactly?”

“A liability waiver.” She sing-songed. Changkyun gulped once more for good measure, looking at a mildly concerned Hoseok who clearly didn’t know what to do with this information, before signing his name on the dotted line. 

_ I’m going to regret this… aren’t I…? _

\- 

Changkyun stood at the edge of the starting platform and looked over the obstacle course with major trepidation. This  _ wasn’t _ what he signed up for when he became a Trainer, but he definitely  _ did _ sign up for  _ this _ . Knowing he can’t turn back and run, Changkyun tightened the strap on his protective helmet and leapt into the first stage. 

**……….**

_ Up next is our second challenger of the day! The young, the fearless Im Changkyun! Changkyun here is looking to add this Gym’s Badge to his growing collection of Almia issued Badges! But to do that he first has to overcome the Obstacle Course From Hell and beat the undeniably powerful and extremely sexy- THAT BASTARD CHANGED OUT THE SCRIPT AGAIN! Stay out of the commentators room, Song! _

_ Where was I? Ah, yes, for Changkyun to claim the Clear Water Badge, he must first defeat Leader Song Gunhee! Let’s see how this turns ou- no time to chat, folks, Changkyun is off! He’s taking his first steps onto the first stage… the Uneven Bridge. Six ruthless panels of wobbly goodness! There’s no telling how he’ll fairrrr and he’s in the water… That was quick. One wrong step was all it took to send him flying into the drink below - back to the start for this one! _

_ Alrighty folks! Attempt number two! Will Changkyun be able to keep his balance atop the plafoooorm and he’s back in the water… Third time’s the charm…? Hopefully? Yes! Changkyun has pulled himself back to the start and has managed to make it past the first panel… and the second… third… fourth, he’s almost there! OH! He’s seemed to have lost his footing on panel five and is on his belly hanging on for dear life! Bet he didn’t expect it to flip the other way… We’ve seen challengers in this very same position before, but very few have actually had the resolve and upper-body strength to keep themselves aloft and- by Joe, he’s pulled himself back up! He’s now… He’s now… Oh for Arceus’ sake, can someone tell that beefcake with the Buneary in the front row to lower the volume? I can’t hear myself think. _

_ Ah! While I was distracted with the peanut gallery, Changkyun had rushed through five and six and lept to the safe zone! What a spectacular feat of agility and- oof… flexibility… Hey, medic? Can the human body even… split like that? No? Oh… poor kid is gonna feel that tomorrow… _

_ Changkyun is shaking himself off, out of respect for his bravery, let us ignore the singular tear that is cascading down his pain-stricken face. He is now approaching what is arguably the most challenging obstacle in the course. The Balls of Pain! Wai- what do you mean that’s not what we’re calling them anymore? The Big Balls? Wha- that’s worse! Anyways, The Big Balls… four giant rubber balls of despair! Many a challenger have given up at this point, but Changkyun seems to be tackling it head on… ooh… and quite literally. Please tell me you go that on camera? That was the faceplant to end all faceplants! Another swim for this one!  _

_ He’s hauling himself back up now, ready for another- Look at him go! He is bounding over balls one and two with balance and precision and oof, spoke too soon… it appears he lost his footing on ball three is currently belly-flopping onto the next ball. Boy… this kid sure is a screamer… OH DEAR! He’s carried that momentum to the last ball with a graceless backflip, he’s… he’s flying through the air to the next safe zone and HE’S CLEAR! _

_ Get up, you young wonder! You’re almost there! Oh… it appears he can… hear me… judging by the thumbs up- HEY! Put that finger down, this is a family-friendly Gym! Kids these days- okay! The time has come for Changkyun to face the third and final stage: The Pendulums of Doom! Three swift moving poles swinging above a twelve centimeter balance beam, yes folks, it is the gruelling final stage before the Leader’s battle! How will Changkyun fairrrrrrr he just gets tossed right in their huh? Does this kid weigh anything? One hit from the first pendulum and he went down like a rag… doll… The peanut gallery did not like that comment…  _

_ But if there’s anything I can say about this kid, it’s that he’s resilient! He’s already back at the safe point ready to try again! He’s off once more… he makes it past the first one no problem! He hesitates a little with the second but he’s… stumbling… clear! One down, then he cAN FACE THE- water… he’s down once more, but not for long! He claws his way back up to the safe point where he appears to be catching his breath. Oh, he's off again! Changkyun is racing down the beam with reckless abandon! From my experience with commentating this course I can say without a shadow of a doubt that this kid has lost his last, miniscule shred of sanity and has decided to risk it all in one last-ditch hoorah! There is no shame in cracking, especially when it seems to be working!  _

_ Changkyun has just cleared the second pendulum and- and HAS MADE IT THROUGH THE LAST! Our fearless challenger has fallen to his knees on the Leader’s Platform with a silent cry of victory! The peanut gallery is cheering! I am cheering! The medic is concerned! But there’s no time to celebrate, because yes folks, that was only the warmup!  _

_ Let’s all look forward to a what is sure to be a magnificent battle!  _

**……….**

Changkyun rose to his feet with a slight sway and a distressed groan. That was singlehandedly the  _ worst _ experience he has  _ ever _ had; that hell served as enough motivation for him to take Gunhee down on the first try so he’ll never have to do  _ that _ again. He peered over to his right and saw Hoseok and Buneary hopping around cheering him on, watching the display charged his batteries up to full - Changkyun gave them a grateful thumbs up.

“You made it! Congrats, kid!” Gunhee welcomed, throwing his arms behind his head in a brief stretch, laughing lightly, “Not gonna lie, thought you were gonna die there for a sec - real glad you didn’t, though! Can’t afford another lawsuit…” He chuckled, leaving Changkyun speechless at the implications that statement carried… Changkyun decided to ignore that for now and focus on his opponent. The Gym Leader looked like he was ready for a day at the beach, not a battle. But Changkyun reminds himself that the  _ “modest” _ pair of swim trunks Gunhee was wearing was just a further indicator of his laid-back attitude… Changkyun had no choice  _ but  _ meet the Leader’s eyes, but that alone felt dangerous 

“You are a sadistic motherfucker.” Changkyun wheezed in exhaustion, pulling himself to his feet and, in turn, popping his vertebrae back to the places they were unceremoniously dislodged from.

“And you are not the first person to tell me that!” Gunhee smiled brightly, striking a pose. “Now, you ready to battle?” He shouldn’t have posed that as a question if he was going to throw out his first Pokémon anyway. A Ludicolo sprung forward and landed on the field with a little spin… before running back to its partner and enveloping him in a hug. Gunhee let out a resigned sigh. “Baby… we’ve talked about this…” 

Changkyun chuckled as Ludicolo squawked out a tune and turned back to the situation at hand. Changkyun evaluated the opponent for a moment then tossed out Punch to lead the charge on this battle. The golden pup howled in anticipation as she stared down Ludicolo, who didn’t look perturbed in the slightest; save for the goofy look the species normally wore, of course. 

“Now, do I need to remind you of the rules here before we start? Just checking, I’m not sure how many times you knocked your skull out there.” Gunhee said.

“Either knock out your Pokémon or knock ‘em in the water, I remember… The helmet saved my brain cells.”

“Awesome! If I had to send one more challenger to the ER they’d shut me down,” The Leader laughed before shifting his gaze to something more serious, the sudden change in mood chilled Changkyun to his core, “Charge ‘em, Cola.”

Ludicolo waddled forward with a fierce intensity; Punch’s fur bristled with excitement as she waited on her partner’s first instructions. Changkyun took a deep breath and let his mind enter the battlefield - he evaluated Ludicolo’s movements and, now, Changkyun has never seen a Ludicolo in person before, but the way he was moving his arms raised some red flags.

“Punch, tuck and roll!” The pup yipped and did exactly as her partner said, just as Punch followed through with the move, Ludicolo slammed his hands together causing a paralyzing clap that forced Punch to stop mid roll. Changkyun ground his teeth and mentally scolded himself for that oversight. The young Trainer called out to his Pokémon and sighed in relief as she shook her head to shake off the effects of the Fake Out. 

Changkyun switched his gaze to Ludicolo and observed how he was shaking off his hands to ready himself for another attack. It left him wide open. Changkyun smirked as he locked eyes with Punch, and let a low bark rumble past his lips. Punch perked up and bolted off towards Ludicolo.

“Did you just fucking bark- COLA MOVE IT!” 

Punch launched herself off the floor and landed a gripping bite on her opponent’s arm. Ludicolo swung his arm -- and Punch -- around with a panicked squawk; Gunhee called out words of encouragement to calm the Pokémon down. Eventually, Ludicolo was able to shake Punch off, not without sending her flying to the opposite end of the field. Changkyun let out a nerve-induced hiss until she finally came skidding to stop at the edge of the ring. The golden pup hopped to her feet and resumed her battle stance,  _ that was a close one… _

Ludicolo didn’t look it, but he had a lot of power to him, and that was proving to be a difficult thing to fight against… and it didn’t help that Gunhee wouldn’t slow down for even a second.

“Hit ‘em while they’re down, baby!”  _ The more this man talks, the less attractive he becomes… _ Ludicolo took a power stance as he bent back to charge up an attack and-  _ oh Arceus! _

“Move!” Changkyun yelled, Punch listened and sidestepped along the edge of the ring as Ludicolo sprayed a powerful Water Gun at her. The blast followed narrowly behind Punch as she outran the attack. Changkyun had to hold back a grin as the evasive maneuver inched closer to where Gunhee was observing the battle - the Gym Leader’s eyes grew comedically wide as the stream of water closed in.

“CUT THE GUN BEFORE YOU HIT THE GUN!” He shrilled, dropping to the floor for safe measure. Ludicolo halted the attack and quacked in apology; Punch saw her opening. The pup took a hard left and rushed towards her opponent at an unforgiving speed, Punch tackled Ludicolo in the stomach with a force strong enough to send the Pokémon stumbling far enough backwards over the edge and into the water below… Unfortunately, that force was  _ also _ strong enough to send Punch ricocheting in the opposite direction. Changkyun hardly had time to process their first victory before he was calling out to Punch as she plopped into the water as well; Luckily, the pup knew how to swim, so Changkyun didn’t have to worry too much about her well being. The soggy Poochyena hauled herself back onto the platform with a whimper. 

“Good fight! Good fight!” Hoseok sung out, the pup only stuck her tongue out at the cheer team - Changkyun chuckled at their antics.

“Sorry, sweetheart, you’re out.” Gunhee shrugged, returning Ludicolo to his ball with a sigh. Changkyun followed suit, not without thanking her for her hard work, of course. But this put the Trainer in a difficult position, the only Pokémon he has left are Shinx… an Electric Type in a Water Type Gym… and Seedot; who wasn’t a bad matchup if you were looking at type difference alone, hell, he has the advantage there…  _ but he’s still so anxious…  _ It was going to be an uphill battle no matter whom Changkyun called out next. 

Gunhee was done waiting the half second it took Changkyun to contemplate his next move, he was already calling out his next Pokémon, “Deeeeeewgong!” The Gym Leader bellowed as he tossed out a ball containing a  _ very  _ excited Dewgong. Changkyun squinted at the Pokémon in front of him, in the light she almost seemed to… sparkle. 

“Is she a Shiny?” Changkyun dumbly asked, it was almost hard to tell without the stream of natural light hitting her just right, but what the Trainer had mistaken as an off-white color previously was a shimmering skin. 

“Yep! I know, she’s stunning! Throw out your next Pokémon already!” 

“R-right!”

There was no  _ better option _ right now, but Changkyun figured he should use his double-edged sword, “Okay, Shinx! Let’s get it!” The tiny cub sprung forward with a mighty meow. 

Gunhee belted out a wild laugh as he took a gander at his little opponent, “I’m sorry, sorry… That was just the cutest thing I have  _ ever _ seen, oh my Arceus!” He wheezed, even Dewgong was slapping her flippers along to her partner’s ruckus. Changkyun let a cocky grin spread across his face. 

“Show ‘em what you got, baby!” And with that, Shinx went charging down the field at breakneck speed - if there was anything Changkyun was proud of in regards to Shinx’s training, it was her increased speed and endurance. The blue cub slammed into the distracted Dewgong’s side and sent her spinning to the edge. Dewgong snapped out of it quickly and used her tail as an emergency brake mere centimeters from the edge - that seemed to sober the Gym Leader up. 

“Well damn, little kitty has some power, huh?” Gunhee said, jaw hanging slack at the scene he just bared witness to, “Shake it off, Dew!” Dewgong quite literally shook herself off, “That’s the spirit, let’s start off strong, shall we?” 

Oh, Changkyun didn’t like the sound of that. Not only was that vague, it was also slightly terrifying! Changkyun shot Shinx a quick “ _ stay on your toes” _ look, the cub nodded and stood her ground as a  _ massive wall of water rose up from behind Gunhee...Oh. Fuck. _

“IS THAT EVEN ALLOWED!?” Hoseok yelled from the bleachers Gunhee cackled like a madman as the water blocked the sun coming in from the window, casting an almost unhinged shadow across the Gym Leader’s face - this man lived for the chaos of it all, that much was evident.

Changkyun could feel all the blood drain from his body as the wall moved closer, time seemed to move in slow motion as his mind scrambled to come up with some sort of solution to this impending doom. The wave looked to span the entire field - there wasn’t anywhere for her to run- wait.  _ Maybe there was…  _

The Trainer examined Dewgong and she confidently stood her ground in front of the water,  _ I don’t see an opening in the wave… is she able to pass through it, does it open up for her? Gunhee’s in front of it too… will it drop like a wave instead?  _ Either way he sliced it, Dewgong was the only safe point on the platform. 

“Shinx…” Changkyun hesitated, his partner looked up at him without an ounce of distrust, he prayed this wasn’t the wrong judgment call, he nodded his head towards Dewgong in a silent instruction, Shinx let out a tiny growl as she charged forward on a demolition path towards her opponent. Dewgong howled as she brought the wall of water forward, if Changkyun squinted he could see the wave start to seperate at the base, exactly where Dewgong and her partner were positioned. Changkyun breathed a sigh of relief as he directed Shinx onwards. 

With Dewgong occupied with her attack, Shinx was able to plow through and slam into her opponent with no problem. The force of the impact threw Dewgong off balance, causing her to lose control of the wave. The wall of water came crashing down on the battlefield like a blanket of rain, drenching both Pokémon (and humans) in a generous amount of water… just when Changkyun was almost finished drying off… Shinx whimpered in discomfort as she shook off her fur, Changkyun could relate. 

To say the cub was peeved would be an understatement. Shinx stared down Dewgong with a scowl as she slapped her flippers together with a low chortle - Shinx’s body crackled with electricity.  _ Oh… no…  _

Changkyun wasn’t a stranger to Shinx’s short temper, it served as a shock at first - seeing as the cub was feeble and timid when they had first met - but as time went on he learned that she is a ball of fire and fury when things don’t go her way. Example of things not going her way: being soaked to the bone and laughed at after an… unexpected attack outcome. But as cute as it was to watch her flare up (she did look quite adorable when angry), right now could possibly be the worst time for her to lose control. 

The Trainer watched as sparks flew off of her and knew exactly what she was planning, then he looked down at the floor beneath them and saw the large puddle both Pokémon were standing in. Changkyun could feel a surge of panic rise in his chest as Shinx charged up for an attack. 

“SHINX! Calm down!” Shinx elected to ignore him. “SHINX DON’T!” Shinx charged forward and rammed Dewgong with an electrical discharge heightened ten-fold by the water underfoot. The battlefield lit up with a crackle of electricity that was strong enough to make Changkyun’s skin prickle. 

Changkyun speechlessly watched the light die down to reveal the  _ slightly _ charred Pokémon. Dewgong, swayed from side to side until she spurted out a groan and fell to the floor in a swirly-eyed haze. Gunhee let out a guttural scream.

“WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY BABY!?”

Changkyun was too focused on his own baby to apologize for her reckless behavior, oh, she would  _ sooo _ be getting a scolding later. Shinx teetered to her side and passed out with a strangled meow. 

Both Pokémon were out.

The Trainer sighed as he returned her to her ball, there’s no use overanalyzing everything that went wrong, he just has to look at the bright side: Gunhee was down to one Pokémon. As was Changkyun… Okay, maybe that was a cause for worry. The Trainer could hear a  _ “shake it off, you’re doing great!”  _ From his personal cheerleader, that was enough to remind him to breathe, this isn't over yet - They’re one for one now; Changkyun can still bring it home! He’s sure Seedot can handle this next match on his own, he’s grown a lot - mentally and emotionally. So, without hesitation, Changkyun threw out Seedot’s ball and breathed a sigh of relief when the little nut looked ready for anything. 

Gunhee grumbled as he returned Dewgong back to her ball for some much needed rest; his mood, however, did a total one-eighty as he grabbed his next Pokémon and set it loose for the spectacular finale he was surely hoping for. 

“Let’s wrap this up, Blasty!” Gunhee exclaimed, unleashing the largest Blastoise Changkyun has ever seen. Seedot’s eyes traveled from the tip of Blastoise’s feet to the the hard eyes pointed directly at him. Changkyun felt the life drain out of him for nth time today as he watched Seedot tremble with fear - an even tinier acorn dropped out the back of him and rolled over the edge of the platform.  _ Hm, well, this looks bleak- _

“SEEDOT! SEEDOT! SEEDOT! YOU GOT THIS, BUDDY!” Changkyun snapped his attention to the bleachers where Hoseok and Buneary were waving around their pom-poms and cheering with all their might. Changkyun shook his head out of his cynical fog. 

“You hear that?” Seedot looked at him expectantly, he nodded with his whole body, “Good, because they’re right, you are so strong, Dot! Let’s bring this one home, okay?” The motivational message seemed to perk him right up, Seedot resumed his battle pose and waited eagerly for his partner to tell him what to do. Changkyun silently thanked Hoseok for that morale boost both he and his Pokémon needed, his favorite cheerleader shot him a dazzling smile and a thumbs up, Changkyun couldn’t help but smile back.

“Hey… Sorry to ruin y’all’s moment, but we’re kinda in the middle of something here.” Gunhee yawned. The jolted Changkyun back into reality; he forced down the blush that was trying to creep up his face and turned his attention back to the field. Right. Seedot vs. Blastoise. 

Despite the obvious size difference, Seedot actually had the upper hand. Blastoises typically relied on water-based attacks, and, luckily, his young Grass Type absorbed water like a sponge! Blastoise stomped a heavy leg on the floor, drawing Changkyun out of his thoughts,  _ the force of the attacks are gonna be a whole other beast, though… but we’ll play that by ear. _

_ Let’s raise those defences to start, then! _

“Harden up, Dot!” Changkyun said, Seedot hummed as a lustrous glow briefly shone over his shell, leaving behind a matte enamel that  _ should _ protect him from any brunt attacks. 

Gunhee whistled low, “Wow, a Trainer that actually uses defensive moves - don’t see those often.” His flat expression changed to a wicked smirk, “Let’s break that armor down, shall we?” Blastoise let out a low roar, but Changkyun stood firm. 

“You got this, buddy, just stay on your toes.” Seedot readied himself for what was to come, and what came happened faster than Changkyun could comprehend. Streams of water aimed directly at the nut blasted through the air and fixed to land, but Seedot hopped around each one without a second thought. Seedot drew closer with each leap and bound and he took, there wasn’t much Blastoise could do attack wise as his small target closed in, so Gunhee called for him to be on the defensive. Blastoise barely had time to cover his head as Seedot sprayed out a barrage of Bullet Seeds at his opponent. Changkyun smiled with affection at his little Pokémon, he’s been working so hard to make that move work, and it’s all paying off!

Blastoise stumbled back with low growl, Seedot only hummed out a happy tune at his successful hit, but the high of that small win didn’t last forever. Blastoise took a wide power stance and unleashed a combo Water Pulse/ Water Gun attack that narrowed in on the momentarily vulnerable Seedot. Changkyun could practically hear Seedot gulp before the trifecta hit and sent him flying at an angle towards the edge of the ring. 

Changkyun felt time slow down as he watched Seedot roll over the edge. It was over… Changkyun was too shocked to move, to think… Maybe they weren’t as ready as he thought they were… _ maybe I really am in way over my head-  _

“WEEEEEEEEEE!” Came the frantic humming of his Seedot. Changkyun whipped his head to the side to see Seedot’s little feet hooked to the edge of the platform, just barely keeping him in the fight.

“Dot!” Changkyun exclaimed in disbelief as Seedot used his feet to pull himself back to safety with a cute spin and a song. Hoseok and Buneary threw up their poms in a hearty cheer, Changkyun had to refrain from picking up the little nut and giving him a hug for how amazing that save was… plenty of time to do that later. Right now they have a battle to win! 

“Well, I’ll be damned, that’s one tough nut to crack.” Gunhee gawked. Hoseok booed at the bad pun to which the Gym Leader waved him off. Changkyun glanced at Seedot, who looked back at him with an uncharacteristic glint of determination; the Trainer felt a swell of pride in his chest as they nodded at each other in synch. Seedot took off with an impressive speed, from the amount of glowing he was doing, Changkyun could tell Seedot was powering up an impressive Mega Drain!  _ Actually… wait… Mega Drain doesn’t glow like that…  _ The light kept getting brighter as Seedot kept charging forward, Changkyun could faintly hear Gunhee yell for Blastoise to hold his ground. Seedot sprung up from the floor and let the light circle around him in a dazzling spectacle. 

And- Oh. Oh!  _ OH! _

When the light dispersed a powerful onslaught of sharp leaves cut through the air and landed their target at the most critical points. Blastoise stumbled backwards with a groan, foot flirting dangerously with the platform’s edge. 

“Blast-...!” SPLASH. Blastoise teetered over the edge in a disoriented wobble and became acquainted with the water below. 

Blastoise was out!

Changkyun watched in awe as his precious little Pokémon’s feet landed on the floor. The Trainer threw his hands up with an unabashed screech of pure joy as he ran out to congratulate his little- 

“NUZLEAF!” Changkyun cried, picking up and twirling his newly evolved Pokémon, “You have arms now! And a nose!” He hugged Nuzleaf close and offered him all the praise he deserved, and this time, Nuzleaf was able to hug his partner back. “I’m so proud of you, buddy, you have no idea.” Changkyun was off in his own little world of emotion as tears of joy streamed from his eyes, but Gunhee offering slow, loud claps grabbed his attention.

“That…” He paused, searching for his words, “was the most invigorating battle I’ve had as a Gym Leader, holy shit.” Changkyun bowed - Nuzleaf still in his arms - and thanked the Gym Leader for the battle and his kind words, Gunhee laughed and waved him off, “Lift your head kid, the pleasure was all mine. Now…” He trailed off, digging in his swimsuit pockets before  _ aha-ing _ and pulling out a lint covered badge, he blew the thing off and handed it to the waiting Trainer.

“I, Song Gunhee of the Pueltown Gym hereby award you with the Clear Water Badge, for not only beating me in battle, but withstanding the brutal trials of the Gym’s Obstacle Course From Hell! Congrats, kid!”

Changkyun bowed once more before accepting the circular badge, it was a beautiful deep blue with a large crashing wave directly in the center and… it was rhinestoned to hell and back. Changkyun looked up at the blinding smile the eccentric Gym Leader wore and figured the man probably took the time to decorate it himself. “Thank you so muc- AHHH!”

The Trainer didn’t have time to finish his thanks, because Hoseok had found his way onto the platform and was sweeping Changkyun and Nuzleaf over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes - Changkyun giggled once he realized what was going on.

“That was so amazing, oh my Arceus, you really are the best Trainer in the history of ever!” Hoseok yelled, Gunhee voiced a grouchy  _ hey! _ , but grinned at the sight in front of him anyway. “And- And Nuzleaf! You’re a Nuzleaf now! BunBun and I were so surprised we forgot how to cheer! You’re just as amazing, little guy!” Hoseok continued to ramble in excitement at the pair laying across his shoulders.

“Is this going to be a regular thing now?” Changkyun mused as Hoseok lowered him back to the ground, a small blush was creeping up his face, Changkyun had to hold back a cooing noise.

“Only if you want it to be?” 

Now it was Changkyun’s turn to blush, but he still nodded. Oddly enough, being hoisted over the other man’s shoulder was comforting in a way he didn’t know how to describe, but he guesses that when something feels good he didn’t need to justify why. 

The rough sound of Gunhee clearing his throat pulled the two back to reality, “Not in my Gym please…” Changkyun wasn’t sure what he meant by that, but they both nodded, deciding it was time to get moving. 

“It was honor battling you, Gunhee!” 

“Yeah, yeah,” The Leader smiled, “it was nice having my ass kicked, keeps me humble. Hey, big guy!” He addressed Hoseok, who pointed at himself as if to say  _ me? _ “Yeah, tell Wonnie I said hey next time you see him… and tell him to come visit sometime!” 

Hoseok smirked, “Will do. Now… how do we get out of this death trap?” Gunhee pointed at a long white platform that was currently emerging from the water’s depths, it led all the way back to the front entrance. Hoseok nodded his thanks and bent over to put Changkyun back over his shoulder. Changkyun chuckled and let himself be carried by his muscular friend. “How about we get something to eat and celebrate another win, yeah?” Changkyun smiled to himself.

“Sounds great.” He said, as they exited the Gym, “Hey?” Changkyun said after a pause, “I think you were right about Hyungwon and Gunhee.”

“I know! I’ve never been more pleased with my deduction skills!” He chuckled, stopping briefly to wave at a pair of Rangers, Shownu and one other they hadn’t seen before, they waved back with a tight-lipped smile. 

“You’re gonna call Hyungwon later and rub it in, huh” 

“Why wait til later?

**……….**

Shownu waved as the former Vientown milkman walked past with his Trainer friend draped over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. They were smiling and laughing more than Shownu had ever seen two people smile and laugh before. A small part of him envied the young… friends? He didn’t want to assume anything, but it was reminding him how he could feel the stress of this yet-to-be-named operation chipping away at his youth - he could have sworn he saw a gray hair this morning… 

In any case, that’s why he and Kihyun are out here today: to relieve the strain of the pandemonium taking place in the shadows of their humble region. Even with the Union and Sven’s aid, they were still lacking the numbers to patrol Almia’s more vulnerable areas: the coastline. And with Pueltown being the region’s busiest port, they thought it best to at least find some more people who would be willing to keep an eye out for them - whether they were a Ranger or not, and luckily, Shownu new one guy who was as good as five. 

“And you’re positive this guy can help?” Kihyun asked as they drew closer to their stop. 

“Oh yeah, he’s one of the toughest guys around and has more free time than anyone one person should have…” Shownu sighed on reflex thinking of all the outrageous calls that have been reported about the man since he moved back to the town…  _ making an “accidental” whirlpool… not to mention all the shenanigans he got up to when they were younger… Arceus, maybe this was a bad idea…  _

“I trust your judgment, but tell me, is he any good?” 

“He’s pretty sharp.” Shownu chuckled as they reached the front door of the Pueltown Gym. He walked in and held the door for Kihyun who huffed a laugh. They both surveyed the bizarre layout of the Pokémon Gym, Shownu grinned once he found exactly the man he was looking for. He nudged at Kihyun and pointed at Gunhee across the room. “That’s our guy, So-”

“Song Fucking Gunhee.” Kihyun breathed out, all color draining from his face. “I need to leav-” Shownu didn’t have time to ask why Kihyun looked so worked up, because they’d been spotted by the man Kihyun so desperately wanted to avoid.

“Yo! Show-bro! Welcome to my Gym, how can I help yooooooo Kihyun is that you!?” Gunhee shouted, excited voice bouncing off the walls of the wide space. 

“I can’t fucking do this right now, not agai- AH!” Kihyun yelped as Gunhee ran directly at the Ranger. “NO! YOU ARE NOT DOING THIS SHIT AGAIN- FUCK!” He yelled as Gunhee picked him up in what looked to be a bone-crushing hug. “Put me down you insufferable dumbass!” 

“How are you doing Kiki? It’s been years! Look at you, a full Ranger, that’s awesome! So proud!” Gunhee shouted in the younger Ranger’s ear. Kihyun looked like he wanted to kill and die at the same time, and Shownu wasn’t sure if he wanted to chuckle or break them apart. It was interesting seeing this well-composed man lose his marbles like this, though. 

“Do you, uh, know each other?” Shownu mused, hiding his grin behind his hand.

Gunhee  _ finally _ set Kihyun down and glared death into the Gym Leader’s skull, but Gunhee didn’t seem to notice. “Oh? Kiki and I go waaaaaay back! We were students at the Ranger School together. Looking to change the world one Pokémon at a time…” Gunhee sighed, recalling the good ‘ol days, “But at the end of the day, the Ranger life just wasn’t for me, so I left. Unfortunately, I had to leave my dear friend Kiki in the process.” He said, wiping a single, fake tear as it didn’t fall down his cheek. Well, this was certainly news to Shownu. He’s known Gunhee since they were in grade school, he never knew the younger had any ambitions to be a Ranger, let alone attend the school Shownu is a proud alumnus of.  _ But at least I can say we’re not bringing in a complete civilian, at least…hopefully he still remembers whatever training he received…  _ A hopeful thought indeed, but he still knows that the Gym Leader is, for a lack of better words, a total moral wildcard. 

“The day you left the Ranger School was the happiest day of my life.” 

“We were the closest of friends, too! We did everything together: Pledge Stone, Bidoof Roundup, Day Internship in Vien…”

“WE WEREN’T FRIENDS-!” 

“It’s nice seeing you all decked out in uniform! Let’s catch up over coffee sometime!”

Kihyun let out a guttural groan of frustration that seemed to completely go over Gunhee’s head, because he kept smiling at his  _ old friend _ . Shownu chuckled despite the situation,  _ ah yes, the situation… _

“Well, that certainly was… touching to witness,” Kihyun shot him a brief glare that sent electricity up his spine, “but we’re here on business.” Gunhee’s mood seemed to flip to something more serious, it could have given anyone whiplash. 

“This about the abductions?” 

“Yeah, we’re here to request your assistance on a plan we have set in motion.” Shownu briefed, “I understand if this is too much for you at the moment, but-”

“What do you need me to do?”

Shownu was taken aback, “That… was a fast response.”

Gunhee huffed to himself, whole demeanor changing, “Here’s the thing about Pokémon, Hyunwoo, I love them more than anything - I’m sure you both can understand. But this is a bit personal for me, I have a Shiny of my own and it would kill me if I lost her - I can’t imagine how all those people might be feeling right now.” He looked them both in the eyes with a glimmer of resolve, “If I can somehow help in the process of bringing them home, then I’ll do anything.”

Shownu looked to Kihyun, who seemed almost surprised. “So you did do some maturing, huh, Song? I’m impressed.” He admitted.

“My attitude isn’t the only impressive thing that matur-”

“WOW, I HATE YOU.”

They maintained a serious conversation for fifteen seconds, Shownu guessed that’s as good as they’ll get right now, “Can you patrol the ports then? We have a lot of people on land, but few on the coasts, even fewer who know the waters around here like you do.” Gunhee nodded with a cocky smirk, soaking in all the praise. 

“I can do that!” Gunhee said, accepting the mission. “What happens if I find someone acting sus? Do I bring ‘em in?” 

Kihyun sighed for the millionth time, “No, you dolt, you’re not authorized to make an arrest. You call in and we’ll come down.” 

“Cool, can I get a Capture Styler too?!” Gunhee asked with bright eyes, Kihyun’s words going in one ear and out the other.

“I think we’re done here.” Kihyun deadpanned, turning on his heel to leave the building. Shownu gave the Gym Leader a bow and thanked him for his cooperation. Gunhee just waved him off with a  _ not a problem _ , before addressing the Ranger making a b-line out of the place. 

“I really am proud of you, Kihyun. Keep living your dream, man!” He called after him. Kihyun stopped in his place and hesitated before throwing a peace sign over his shoulder. Gunhee chuckled and leaned in close to Shownu. “You too, Woo, you’ve come a long way. Now, keep that moody tsundere out of trouble, he has a hot temper and a mad stubborn streak - he’s sure to get flagged for insubordination one day.” He said, slapping Shownu on the back.

“Sentimentality isn’t something I’m used to seeing on you, but you wear it well.” Shownu chuckled, moving his feet out of the Gym. 

“Shut up, you’ll ruin my mysterious and sexy reputation!” 

“Can’t ruin what you never had.”

Gunhee huffed and pushed the large Ranger out of his Gym, “And stay out!” He called after him, laughter erasing the bite in his voice. Shownu smiled to himself as he went to catch up with Kihyun, who was sitting on a bench looking drained. 

“His energy level is soul-sucking.” Kihyun rubbed his eyes with a sapped groan. Shownu’s smile stayed on his face as he held a hand out for the younger Ranger, who gladly accepted. As much as Shownu would love to rest right now, he knows only more work needs to be done. 

“But it was a fun little coincidence.” Shownu said, breaking their silence. 

“Describe  _ fun _ .” 

Shownu huffed a laugh, “It just amazes me how small the world really is, ya know?” 

Kihyun shrugged, “Speaking of small world, I got a tip from Crawford not too long ago relayed  from  _ their _ Gym Leader, and he thinks he might have a lead on a possible suspect.”

Shownu eyes widened, Hyungwon is a trusted figure in Vientown, so Shownu knows whatever comes from him is reliable. “What’s he got for us?”

“He said he had a flashy fellow by the name of Minhyuk come into his Gym - he had what he called  _ obsessive praise _ for a Shiny Pokémon. He’s twenty-something, tall-ish, pale, and blonde; seems to have an affinity for gaudy clothing. A little vague in description, but he also has a Castform.”

“A Castform? They aren’t native to Almia… Shouldn’t be too hard to find him.” Shownu surmised, pulling out his Styler and sending in a transmission to the Depot. “Voicemail: This is Shownu. I need you to put out a notice for a guy named Minhyuk…” He relayed all the descriptors and where he was seen last, and ended the call. Hopefully they can spread that info and more people would come forward with information, but until then… 

“Shouldn’t be too hard to find a flashy guy with a Castform, especially if he wandered up here. No offence, but no one in this little fishing town looks like they’re capable of -- what I’m assuming is -- a massive crime against fashion.” Kihyun said, small smile on his lips. 

Shownu snorted, “And what would you know about fashion, uniform Ranger?” 

A playful glint streaked across Kihyun’s eyes, “Hm, how about when this is all over I show you? We can get dinner too, celebrate, just us Leaders.” He winked.  _ Winked. Why does he keep doing that!? _

Shownu could feel his tongue dry up and wither away at the many implications that could have, “Uh, yeah. That sounds great. Can’t wait.” He stammered, he could feel the tips of his ears heat,  _ boy this Summer heat is killer…  _ He didn’t know his inner voice could nervously laugh, but here they are… 

“Awesome,” Kihyun smiled, sounding accomplished, “Let’s go find that Minhyuk guy then, shall we?” 

Shownu was too busy having minor cardiac palpitations to verbally reply, so he simply nodded and led the way to their next destination. 

**……….**

_ “I need you to put out a notice for a guy named Minhyuk…”  _

Jooheon did a coffee spit-take all over his new pair of pants, because,  _ Oh. Oh no, that’s not good.  _ It was really bad, actually! Combee buzzed around him in concern as she did her best to give him a napkin, Jooheon accepted the paper with a strained  _ thanks _ and blotted his pants before packing up his brunch and hauling ass back to the hotel.

“Minhyuk, Min!” Jooheon gasped as he closed and locked the door to their room. Minhyuk looked up from where he was sitting on the bed, curlers in his hair and hydrating face mask still on his face with Castform floating around with his own face mask (not that he even needed it), nibbling on a berry like the king Minhyuk treats him as - so, still in the same position Jooheon left them in this morning.

“Hey Honey, I got an aloe based mask left in the skin care kit and half a jar of honey if Combee wants to put it on her faces-” 

“We have an emergency.” Jooheon cut off, even though he could  _ really _ go for a self-care day right now… priorities, he reminds himself. “Min, the Rangers are looking for you.” 

Minhyuk’s jaw dropped so fast the edges of his charcoal mask lifted, “What.” 

“I overheard some Rangers say they got a tip about a flashy guy with a Castform.”

“That could be anyone…”

“They used your name, Min! They also said your outfit sounds like a crime against fashion, but that’s not the point. They put out a notice for you!”

“CRIME AGAINST FASHION?!”

“That’s not the part you should be worried about!” Jooheon sighed, throwing himself on the bed, he peered up at his friend to see him wearing a small smile for Jooheon’s sake, but Castform was back in his rainy form. It’s very rare to see Minhyuk mask his emotions like this, it was near impossible for him to succeed with Castform by his side, though. Jooheon wanted to reach out and comfort the man, so he did. Minhyuk pressed his face into Jooheon’s chest and allowed himself to shake in silent fear, his suit pants were already ruined, who cares if the shirt is too? Not Jooheon. 

“Arceus, how did this happen?” Minhyuk stuttered with emotion. “How did everything fall apart so fast?” Jooheon didn’t want to say how things behind the scenes were never really put together as well as they thought, but then the shattered man looked up at him with bloodshot eyes and smeared face mask, and Jooheon couldn’t find it in himself - he just held him tighter. 

“I have to turn myself in.” 

“Don’t be silly, Min…”

“No, I mean it! I can give them information that could put an end to this-”

“Who’s to say that information is accurate anymore?” It wasn’t a far-out thing to say, they’ve spent years running around in circles thinking they were doing good, but here they are now. Lost. In the dark. It was a terrifying feeling.

Minhyuk deflated, “You’re… right.” A fresh set of tears pricked at his eyes. “I can’t even do right when I have the opportunity, I’m so fucking-”

“Don’t you dare finish that.” Jooheon quickly cut the man off, pulling him back into his embrace. Jooheon wished he could take away all the hurt his dear friend was feeling, he can worry about his own pain only after he helps Minhyuk.

But what could he actually do? This situation has spiralled so far out of his control that he doesn’t even know up from down, hell, this situation  _ never was _ in his control to begin with. Arceus, he’s beginning to sound like a broken record now. 

“We just need to have a better understanding of what’s happening,” Jooheon continued, then he remembered something he heard over their company comms. Their regional boss is stopping into town for the next few days…

“I heard Taemin should be in town, maybe I can-”

“I- I need to go talk to Taemin, ask him to help fill in the gaps then we- then  _ I _ can go talk to the Rangers.” Minhyuk stammered, cutting the younger off and then abruptly standing up to get ready. Jooheon reached out for his wrist and gently pulled him back to the bed, his eyes softened when he saw the restlessness start to take its toll on the older. 

“I’ll go.” Jooheon said without hesitation. Did the idea of digging for answers from their intimidating-as-all-hell boss scare him? Naturally, but his want and  _ need _ to protect Minhyuk was snuffing out all the fear from his system. Jooheon didn’t allow Minhyuk a chance to protest, “You’re practically a wanted man, you know,” He chuckled airily, knowing very well he wouldn’t hang up his  _ “flashy” _ outfits for even one outing, the only thing that could actually give him away. At least that’s what Jooheon tells himself… deep down he’s afraid of him not being able to handle whatever revelations come to light.

Minhyuk pouted, “But…” Jooheon held up a finger to shush him.

“No buts. I’ll go gather the info, then we can go down to the Ranger Depot together.” Jooheon squeezed the man’s arm lightly, more tears welled up Minhyuk’s eyes.

“But… you’ll get arrested too!” Minhyuk’s voice cracked in protest.

“I’d rather go down with you than watch you struggle on your own.” Jooheon said. Minhyuk threw himself back into his arms with a few sobs here and there. 

So it was settled. With a bone-crushing hug goodbye from Minhyuk and a watery kiss from Castform, Jooheon set out for the inn just outside of Altru City where their regional boss was visiting for the evening. He patted gently at his pocket to make sure the recording device Minhyuk insisted he needed was still there and unnoticable, it didn’t take much convincing to bring seeing as it was an excellent idea… How or why Minhyuk is in possession of such a convenient thing was not for Jooheon to question at the moment, he just prays that it actually worked. He does make it a side note to check in on whatever the hell else Min has been up to with this thing… 

Nothing could have really prepared Jooheon for the long walk…  _ Arceus, it looks so much closer on the map… _ But after what felt like a fifty mile trip (an easy two and a half in actuality), and a wrong turn or two, Jooheon  _ finally _ reached the Altru City Limits where the inn his boss was staying at was located. It was a modern, yet earthy looking place - two stories and a picnic area off to the side. Jooheon would go as far as to call it peaceful, if it weren’t for the chance of life-shattering news waiting for him on the other side of these red-painted doors. 

It wasn’t difficult to find the room Taemin was staying in, not when there was - what appeared to be - a guard posted by the door, Jooheon recognized the young man as a friend of Mark’s; can’t recall his name for the life of him right now, though. He gave one of those upwards nods that showed company solidarity before turning to his dear Combee and asking her to wait for him outside, she buzzed with slight apprehension before flying off to inspect a nearby tree. 

_ This is it…  _ Jooheon took a deep breath and knocked three sturdy knocks on the wooden door. The door swung open not a second later to reveal a casually dressed Taemin. 

“Ah, Jooheon, I’ve been expecting you.” He said with a flat voice, he extended his hand into the room as a silent invitation. Jooheon could feel the first bead of sweat roll down his temple, at least he could blame it on the heat and not his rising nerves. 

“H-how did you know I was coming?” 

Taemin snorted out a laugh, whole demeanor changing, “Just messing with you, kid. To what do I owe the visit? Is it about that Poochyena?” Jooheon let go of the breath he was holding and chuckled despite himself. Taemin ushered him to sit with him at the small table in the corner of the room. It was a roomier suite, just luxurious enough for someone of Taemin’s company status, but humble enough to remind him that he’s nowhere near the top of the food chain. 

“That’s actually what I wanted to discuss with you, sir.” Jooheon said, discreetly turning on the recorder and taking a seat across from his boss, the man in question reclined leisurely in his seat, arms crossed, an eyebrow arched to the heavens. Jooheon swallowed down the lump in his throat and continued. “I’m afraid there may have been some miscommunication about… acquiring the Poochyena…"

“Oh?”

“When you told us to take it, did you actually mean to  _ take it _ , like, from its partner?” Jooheon cringed at his delivery of the sensitive question, but no use beating around the bush, he supposed. 

Taemin only burst out in a fit of laughter. Jooheon flinched back at the abruptness, his boss’s laughter slowly died down as he realized his subordinante wasn’t laughing along. 

“You’re not joking, are you?” 

“No, sir…” 

Taemin’s grin dropped into a deep frown, “Jooheon. You were aware of our removal practices, right?” Jooheon timidly shook his head at his boss’ stern voice, Taemin only ran his hands down his face with a groan, “How long have you been with us?”

“Six years, sir.”

Taemin peeked through a gap in his fingers and sighed. “Well, that,  _ partially _ explains it.” He sighed, scratching at the back of his neck now, “We didn’t start informing our entrance level workers about removals until a few years ago, since you and Minhyuk -- I’m assuming he doesn’t know either -- are usually out and about and bringing big numbers, I just assumed the information was passed up to you two sometime in between.” Jooheon shook his head again, speechless. “So, wait, you collected all of those Pokémon by persuasion alone?” Jooheon nodded. “Damn, then I’m even more impressed!”

There was an unnatural pause in the conversation. 

“This isn’t a problem, is it, Jooheon.” Something about Taemin’s tone of voice put Jooheon on high alert, he found it difficult to regulate his breathing, was the room always this small? When will the air conditioning in this room kick on, he’s sweating through his jacket, and why is this chair so uncomfortable?  _ Breathe breathe breathe…  _

“It isn’t, we just wanted to make sure we were on the same page.” That answer seemed to satisfy Taemin. 

“Excellent! Sorry about that miscommunication, I’m kinda embarrassed to tell you the truth…” He confessed, “Is there anything else I need to fill you in on - Arceus, I knew we should have made pamphlets…”

Jooheon gulped. He wasn’t sure what he was expecting to hear, but they  _ need _ to know, so he pushes past the fear and continues, “Yeah, just one other thing: what do we with the Pokémon we bring in?

Taemin threw his head back and let out a breathy chuckle, “I really have let you two down, oof.” 

“I mean, aside from the comparative DNA tests and endurance courses we have open to the public, we also have a breeding program in Johto that aims to build our own population of specimens for our research,” This was news to Jooheon… “Buuuut, it left us with an… unprecedented amount of inbred Pokémon, if we even want to call them Pokémon, and yeah, those things aren’t exactly what we want - and let me tell ya, the disposal process? A hair pulling  _ nightmare _ .”

_ O-oh… oh Arceus…  _ Jooheon felt a wave a nausea hit him like a freight train. 

“Then there’s the  _ Extreme Situation Tests _ , and I’m not sure how to actually explain those, but let’s just say whoever said Shinies are resistant to extreme heat and cold was very,  _ very  _ wrong…” Taemin laughed like he was discussing a silly matter, and not - what is essentially - the execution of living, breathing Pokémon. A mixture of emotions threatened to take over Jooheon’s actions, he willed himself back into a false state of calm. 

“Oh! And our new weapons program! Arceus knows this one has been stressful as all hell, but we’re finally getting somewhere with it. 

“W-weapons?” Jooheon said, choking on his spit a bit. 

“Don’t let the peace of this backwater region fool you, Jooheon. Wars are constantly raging beyond our borders, people pay a hefty price for weaponry - and the best ones on the market are the breathing kind.” Taemin sighed. “Fortunately and unfortunately for us, Shinies are an ultimate biological  _ power house _ , but enhancing that power is a pain in the  _ ass. _ ”

_ Push through, Jooheon… _ “How so?”

“Ugh, where to start.” He groaned. “Genetic modifications are a  _ hassle _ when the test subjects keep dropping dead.” Jooheon dug his fingers into his thighs to keep from screaming. “Like, we’ve gone through three Rattata and a Starly before we yielded any useful results.”

“That many?”

“Yeah,” A deep chuckle rumbled Taemin’s chest, “I told them to use Pokémon with larger hearts, but  _ noooo  _ use the ones with hearts the size of a golf ball, not like they’ll arrest or anything, the damn idiots. Like, really? We’re paying these lab guys to do research and they don’t even know  _ that _ . It’s ridiculous, don’t you think?” 

Jooheon swallowed back the hot bile threatening to spew out of his mouth, “Sure is, sir.” 

“Those dumbasses finally got it right with that Staravia, though.” That sounded a little too familiar to Jooheon.

“Mark’s Staravia?” 

“So you’ve seen it!” He smiled, sitting up straighter in his seat, “Five is a real beauty, don’t you think?” 

“Very… why is it named  _ Five _ ?” Jooheon asked, fearing the answer.

“Because it was the fifth test subject, duh.” Taemin scoffed. “We have Mark battle testing that one this week, if it doesn’t keel over then we’ll have a solid specimen to build off of. Exciting, huh?” Taemin leaned over, almost as if he were carefully evaluating Jooheon; he was made hyper-aware of his countenance.

“It really is! Can’t wait to see what kind of progress we get out of this!” Jooheon lied through his teeth. “I think that ties up the loose ends here, thank you for your time, sir.” He said, standing and giving a quick bow, switching off the recorder.

Taemin waved him off, “Don’t thank me, I caused you both some stress not filling you in properly. But…” He lulled, leaning across the table on his elbows, bringing him face to face with a still bowing Jooheon, he locked his gaze with the younger man, “I trust that we still have your and Minhyuk’s full allegiance? Correct?” 

Jooheon sucked in a breath as his eyes ran over the stone-cold features of his boss’ face, the room that felt too warm to bear was now subzero, Jooheon fought off the shiver that wracked his spine long enough to answer: “Without a doubt, sir.” 

Taemin’s smiled so wide it looked like it might fall off his face. In the past, Jooheon would have loved to see a smile like that directed at him by a higher up, it meant he was doing  _ good _ , but now that praise felt so filthy, he wanted to scrub off his skin until the stench of this whole conversation washed away, but he can’t fall apart, not now at least. 

“You have a good evening, sir.”

“You too, kid. Take it easy! Tell Min, I said hi… I owe you guys a raise…” 

Jooheon had to bite his tongue to keep from telling him to keep his dirty money, so he just nodded. And left the room. Then walked outside. And after walking a good distance he fell to his knees and let the dam of emotion he had been holding back flood his being. He trembled on the cool cobblestone street as a series of sobs ripped through the night; only the moon and his precious Combee there to comfort him, he can’t even recall when she joined him, but the gentle weight of his own partner was enough to bring Jooheon back to himself. He held Combee in his embrace and mumbled apology after apology to her, she replied with low buzzing sounds of concern.

“I’m okay, we’ll be okay,” He repeated, pulling himself back to his feet. “Let’s get back to the other two, okay?” Combee nuzzled into her partner’s chest in an attempt to comfort him, Jooheon gave her an appreciative squeeze as he carried himself back to their hotel. 

-

Minhyuk threw open the door at the very first hollow knock Jooheon left on the wood, he threw himself around the younger man and his Combee and pulled them into the room and sat them on the room’s only bed. Jooheon felt a new tears pour down his face, but he was still shaking despite the sense of security he felt engulfed in Minhyuk’s arms. He was grateful for the feeling of comfort that rolled off the older, even more grateful that he was giving him a chance to catch his breath before relaying everything he had heard this evening. 

Jooheon reached into his pocket with a shaky hand to pull out the recorder. He clicked the play button and let the horrors of his time in the room with their boss fill the air. Jooheon didn’t have the strength to look at his friend as he listened to the audio, but he could tell how he was feeling based off oh how Minhyuk’s grip on him tightened with each revelation that came to light. Castform phased from his Rainy form he took on once Jooheon had entered, to his Neutral form as his partner grit his teeth together, despite the venom running through Minhyuk’s veins at all the spoken atrocities that were filling his ears, his touch on Jooheon was filled with compassion.

The younger man looked up at Minhyuk and saw his jaw clenched, but his eyes full of care - another sob broke through the air as Jooheon let himself go for the second time this evening, only this time he had Minhyuk to hold him. A stream of hot, angry tears seeped out of the corners of Minhyuk’s eyes. They didn’t have to speak a word to each other to know they were feeling the same exact things: anger, sadness, betrayal, and remorse for the pain they’ve unknowingly caused. 

Minhyuk switched off the recorder and lifted Jooheon’s chin to look at him, and with a broken voice, he whispered their new resolve.

“We’re going to burn these motherfuckers to the ground.” 

**……….**

  
  


The gears in this machine seem to have shifted all of our heroes stories in a far different trajectory than they could have ever imagined! What comes next is anyone’s guess, tomorrow may not be certain, but the strength to power through is.

  
  


**……….**

_ Oh, my aching back… _

Kihyun leaned over the coffee pot to stretch out the knot that formed in his spine sometime during the night. Don’t get him wrong, he was absolutely thrilled to be staying here in Pueltown to pull together the means of bringing the people behind this dark scheme to their knees, but  _ Arceus, _ were the cots here uncomfortable - big downgrade from his plush bunk back at Altru, he’s only been here, what? Five days? And his spine was already out of whack, he was too young for this.

The tired Ranger craned himself back to relieve the pressure, but nothing seemed to be helping, he groaned. Pachirisu must have been fed up with his moaning and groaning, because he hopped off the counter and scurried to the other side of the room, Kihyun was about to ask what the Pokémon was doing, then he heard the pitter-patter of little feet pick up speed.

“Pachi-? SHIT!” Pachirisu had launched himself directly into Kihyun’s back, but the man couldn’t complain too much since it  _ actually _ made his back  _ feel better _ , “Thanks, baby. Maybe a warning next time, yeah?”

“Pachi-pachi!”

_ This cute little shit. _ Kihyun shook his head with a sigh and went to pour himself a cup of coffee. He was in for another long day… Stage one: morning report review with a side of breakfast. Breakfast doesn’t get going until seven, and right now it’s… 5:30… Long day. 

Kihyun flipped through the files on the table in front of him and sorted them out; why this Depot uses paper reports and  _ only _ paper reports baffles Kihyun immensely, but he can’t argue when he saw how Shownu and his team have everything put together so tightly. He finds himself being more and more impressed with Shownu’s leadership skills as the days pass; a lot of things about Shownu is  _ impressive _ , but Kihyun decided it be best to not travel down that Buneary hole… for now, at least.

“Quest request, quest request, missing Pokémon report, quest request…” Kihyun mumbled out, all of which having to do with their case. Kihyun considered himself a man of his work, he was able to separate his emotions from the job at hand to yield the best results, but the sheer amount of these cases is  _ gut wrenching _ , even more so considering new cases keep coming in.  _ When does it end…? _ He asks himself, but he knows the answer is when he personally puts a stop to it. So he continues to flip through the files knowing it will bring them one step closer to the end. 

It goes like this not even half an hour when Kihyun hears the sound of heavy footsteps carry around the small kitchen area, Kihyun looks up in time to see the door slide open to reveal a sleepy-looking Shownu in his half-naked glory and an equally tired Ursaring waiting on the other side. 

“G’mornin’.” He yawned, bumping into every surface on his way into the kitchen, Ursaring took it upon himself to carefully guide his sleepy partner away from all of his obstacles on his personal quest for a morning cup of coffee; Kihyun couldn’t help but coo at the sight. If Kihyun had to choose a highlight of his time here, it would definitely be seeing the many different faces of Mr. Son Hyunwoo. After hearing story after story of this strong and intimidating macho Ranger, it was a pleasant surprise to find he’s all that on the surface, but a shy and humble man underneath. He is a refreshing presence amongst the sea of ego-centric Top Rangers Kihyun is so used to sharing the same air as. 

“Good morning, you’re up early.” Kihyun greeted, taking a sip of his coffee to hide the grin on his face. He’d be too embarrassed to admit it out loud, but he greatly enjoyed the other man’s company; he would definitely make _ this _ task a lot more bearable. 

“Yeah, the sounds of someone dying woke me up.”

“Ah, my apologies. I had a surprise chiropractor appointment this morning,” Kihyun sighed, giving Pachirisu a little pat on the head. “But that was half an hour ago, give or take. Sure took you awhile.” Kihyun jokingly said. 

“It’s hard to throw myself out of bed when a two hundred-seventy pound lump of fur uses you as a body pillow.” Shownu yawned, him and Ursaring took a seat beside Kihyun and peered at all the paper spread out in front of him, he gently tapped Pachirisu on the head as a greeting, the small Pokémon squeaked in joy at the sensation. “Anything new?” 

“From the late night reports? A lot… nothing good.” Kihyun leaned back and sighed, he had to fight off the urge to dig the heels of his hands into his eye sockets, and instead pushed the pile in front of Shownu for him to assess. “But I did hear back from Sven about the extra hands, and he said they’ll have Rangers in Haruba and Hia by this afternoon.” Shownu shivered at the mention of Hia, almost as if on reflex; Kihyun quirked an eyebrow. “You okay there?”

Shownu chuckled awkwardly, “I… spent too much time there during my training days… It’s left me nothing but bone-chilling memories.” Kihyun snorted at the pun, Shownu had a lot of different charms to him, “Yeah, but really, it was awful. I almost lost a toe to frostbite. Not fun times.” 

_ Oh… That doesn’t sound pleasant…  _

Ursaring grumbled beside them with a downcast gaze, “Guma didn’t like it too much either, isn’t that right buddy?” Shownu baby talked his partner. Kihyun reached over and scratched the large Pokémon beneath his chin. Shownu’s eyes widened in panic as Kihyun’s hand drew closer. “Wait! He doesn’t like having his-” 

Kihyun didn’t hear him, however, and rubbed a soothing hand across Ursaring’s fur, “It’s okay, dear, you don’t have to go back there.” He cooed. Ursaring melted into his touch, he even thumped his leg happily on the wooden floor. Kihyun turned to Shownu with a sheepish look, “Sorry, what were you saying? I got distracted…” 

Shownu opened his mouth to say something, but failed as his mouth stayed open in a perfect “O”. Kihyun was willing to say the man looked like a surprised Pikachu…  _ cute. _

“Nevermind…” He trailed off, “Guma really likes you.” Shownu looked like he wanted to say more, but Kihyun wasn’t one to pry. 

“Well, I really like Guma too~” Ursaring gurgled in delight, Arceus, was he a sucker for big cuties. 

Kihyun wished that moment of peace would last forever, because it didn’t take long for the mood to plumet downhill at a breakneck speed. A loud banging sound could be heard from the front entrance of the Depot. The two Rangers shot up from their seats to investigate. Shownu tossed Kihyun his Styler that was sitting on the counter while Kihyun tossed Shownu a proper shirt that was sitting discarded on the couch, then they cautiously stepped their way into the lobby where the noise was coming from. 

To their surprise, and horror, it was Gunhee. The Gym Leader was standing outside the door to the Depot, thumping on the glass with a repetitive, lifeless motion. If Kihyun squinted he could see half his face caked in a red substance. The Ranger’s eyes widened as he raced to the door and unlocked it, the second it was open Gunhee fell forward into Kihyun’s arms. 

“This better fucking be strawberry jam, Gunhee…” Kihyun fretted, laying the man on the floor so he could properly check him over, he pushed the man’s hair back to find a nasty gash along his hairline. “What the hell happened, Gun?”

“They took her, Ki, they fuckin’ took her.” Gunhee rapsed out, tears falling from his eyes. Shownu rushed to their side with a first-aid kit and started assessing the various other wounds Kihyun failed to notice. Kihyun has known this obnoxious man for far too long, but he’s never seen him look so…  _ fragile _ . It didn’t sit well with him. 

“Who did they take, Gun?” Kihyun asked, doing his best to calm him down by rubbing the side of his face. It seemed to relax him long enough to answer.

“Dewgong. They took Dewgong.” He cried, sobs ripping through his throat, it felt like glass was tearing at Kihyun’s heart as he watched an old friend fall apart in his arms. Arceus damn him if he ever said that out loud, but it hurt so much to see Gunhee like  _ this _ . As another victim of this  _ mess _ . 

Kihyun exchanged a similar look of outrage with Shownu, a swirl of emotions filling the room as they did everything in their power to calm down Gunhee and get him patched up. It wasn’t until they had the broken Gym Leader bandaged and tucked into a cot did they let the reality of the situation fully sink in. These abductions have taken a violent turn for the worse and nothing they were doing right now was enough to deter it. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just wanted y’all to know my research for this chapter included 5 hours worth of Wipeout compilations… my social life has been dealt a lethal blow… Also, I take it back, Gun is my favorite character to write. And before anyone asks, this is Gun’s Gym, everything is legal because this mf is LAWLESS
> 
> A few things have also changed. As you can see, we now have a chapter limit now, which also means we’re almost halfway through this journey! Along with that, I decided to bump up the rating from Teen to Mature because that scene with joo and tae was… a lot more fucked up written out than I thought it’d be… I honestly had a “what the fuck am i writing what is wrong with me” moment while writing it… Also, I feel like this goes without saying - but it feels weird not saying: this isn’t AT ALL how I view Taemin or the rest of SHINee. The band name fit well with the plot and I wanted a villain I could easily visualize, that is all
> 
> Thank you so much for reading! Leave a comment if you feel inclined, I love hearing y’all’s reactions and feedback!!
> 
> Additional Notes:
> 
> -Melody is another character from the Almia game.  
> -Feel free to ask any questions you may have about Stylers and Almia. I did throw in a lot of Ranger lingo in this one, and I’m sure that theme will continue as we move forward lol


	6. Conflict of Interest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emotions begin to run high on the heels of a local tragedy. What will happen as worlds start to collide as a direct result?

It’s eight in the morning and already this is one of the worst, most heartbreaking, days Shownu has ever faced in his entire life, and it didn’t help that he had to dam off his emotions long enough to question his beaten and battered childhood friend about the abduction of his Pokémon.

Shownu sat in front of a sniffling Gunhee as he struggled to wipe at the new tears falling from his eyes with a bandaged hand. Kihyun wordlessly sat beside Gunhee and offered him a tissue and a glass of water, Gunhee took the paper and fiddled with it, not wanting to make eye contact with any of them quite yet. Whoever did this took more than just his Pokémon friend, they took the light from the proud Gym Leader’s eyes and left behind a bloodied shell. From the amount of injuries that ranged in severity from minor abrasions to a fractured thumb, it was safe to say Gunhee went down fighting, but Shownu could tell the younger man was kicking himself for going down at all.

“I was walking along the harbor’s coast,” Gunhee spoke suddenly, startling both Shownu and Kihyun. His voice cracked and was wavering like all the hope had been stripped from him. “I made it a nightly routine, go down to the docks around midnight, scope the place out… I’d been doing it the last few nights like you asked, but I hadn’t seen a thing out of place.” He paused to take a sip of water, hand noticeably shaking as he brought it to his lips. “Until last night that is.”

Shownu ushered his fellow Ranger, Mingi, to the table and instructed him to start taking notes, they’re going to need every bit of information Gunhee has if they want to start putting leads together, the young Ranger nodded, albeit reluctantly, and joined them at the table as Gunhee continued his account. 

“I saw a small group of guys, maybe about six of ‘em, dressed in dark clothes, loading crates and cages onto a charter boat. Suspicious as hell, so I confronted them…” His voice cracked as a short sob made its escape, “Arceus, I should have called in.” Kihyun bit his lip and looked away as Gunhee struggled to compose himself. Despite the front Kihyun put up about not liking Gun, Shownu could tell that, deep down, he cared for the other. “Sorry, I’m sorry… I didn’t think they’d all gang up on me… One of them knew who I was and said something about me having a Shiny, and before I could react they had Pokémon and blunt objects aimed at me. I think I got hit eight different times before someone whacked me over the head with a pipe - it felt like a pipe… I passed out and woke up with Dewgong’s ball missing from my belt, next thing I knew I was here.”

Mingi feverishly wrote down every detail from Gunhee’s statement, pausing only to see if his Lead Ranger had anything to add.

“Did you see any of their faces, the Pokémon they had, details on the boat?”

“They had face masks, a handful of Raticate, and it was too dark to tell.” Gunhee answered, fidgeting in his seat, “but I heard them say something about going to a port in the West?” He frowned, dropping his head down to the table and letting out a defeated sigh.

_ Port in the West?  _ Shownu scanned his mental map of Almia and couldn’t think of a single place on the Western side of the region a port would even be - it’s nothing but forest and ice-covered mountains. Who’s to say they’re even talking about a port  _ in _ Almia? This raised more questions than answered and Shownu wasn’t sure how far they’d really get with this. 

“Wait,” Kihyun said, grabbing everyone’s attention, “What about your other Pokémon?”

Gunhee lifted his head and blinked a few times to process the question, once he did he grabbed at his belt and inspected the two Pokéballs clipped to it, “May I?” All three Rangers nodded and Gunhee let his Pokémon free. A Blastoise and Ludicolo erupted in a range of noises upon seeing their injured partner and immediately engulfed him the best they could - knocking Kihyun to the side in the progress, but the man didn’t seem to mind. “Th- they’re here, and they’re okay.” He sobbed, holding his Pokémon close. Which prompted the ever skeptical Kihyun to say:

“It’s almost as if they knew…” He pondered aloud. 

“Huh?” Everyone asked with various tones of dumbfoundment. 

“Um… Ranger Yoo, can you please elaborate?” Mingi asked, raising his hand. Shownu could tell he was slightly intimidated by the more seasoned Ranger, and he couldn’t help but find it amusing - especially since he’s gotten to know Kihyun as a soft-hearted lover of cute things. But that’s not what the Leader should be focusing on right now. 

Kihyun’s eyes widened slightly, “Oh, my apologies. I just find it odd that the perpetrators knew which ball to take, I mean, they must’ve known you have a Shiny -- judging on how they called you out as a Gym Leader with one -- and I doubt they’d risk letting all your Pokémon out to check…” He said, rubbing at his chin in thought, “Gun, do you still keep things in alphabetical order?” Gunhee simply nodded. A lightbulb went off in Shownu’s head. 

“Gun, can you recall every battle you’ve had over the last three weeks?” Shownu looked to Kihyun who nodded -  _ so we are on the same page here _ , he smiled; then he turned to Mingi -- bless his soul -- who looked absolutely lost. A sense of realization seemed to hit the Gym Leader. 

“That… makes sense. Hell, even people who  _ observed  _ one of my battles could be just as plausible…” Gunhee gnawed at his bandaged thumb and tapped his foot in thought. Kihyun sighed and swatted at Gunhee’s hand to get him to cease his unhealthy habit. 

“Let’s start small so we don’t burn ourselves out, yeah?” Kihyun gently suggested, “How many people have you battled” Gunhee looked at Kihyun with teary gaze before rubbing his face in thought. 

“Um? In order? A boy from Kanto, a teenage girl, a dude with a Shiny Staravia, a lanky guy with a Shiny Poochyena, a granny on the beach, the guy who works at the bridge… but that wasn’t a  _ Pokémon  _ battle if you know what I mean,” Shownu could practically  _ see _ Kihyun reign in his urge to slap the rambling man, a testament to how easily Gun really gets on his nerves, everything almost felt  _ normal _ again… it was a hopeful thought. “And a girl with a full team of Stunky… that shit was unfair, man.” Gunhee shivered at the memory, Shownu was relieved to know his humor was still intact… then again, it always had been the man’s way of coping with things.

“You battled two people with Shiny Pokémon?” Mingi queeried. 

“Yeah, on the same day, too.” Gunhee hummed. Kihyun picked at his chin in thought, a habit the man seemed to have - Shownu almost wanted to tell the man to stop before he broke skin, but he didn’t feel it was his place. 

“Do you remember their names?” Kihyun asked.

“The second guy’s named Changkyun, neat kid; tall-ish, black hair, followed by a perpetually whipped beefcake.” Gunhee said as Kihyun gestured for Mingi to keep writing.

_ Changkyun? Perpetually whipped beefcake? Now that rings a few bells... _

“As for the first, well… I don’t remember the first kid’s name, like, at all… but he was the cockiest, unprepared Trainer I’d ever seen. Only had the one Pokémon - didn’t seem to care about the battle at all. It was the most boring battle ever, not gonna lie. I don’t remember facial features, but he also had a mop of black hair and had some height to him.” All three Rangers sighed at Gunhee’s  _ impeccable _ talent for descriptions, but they all knew it was a start. 

“It’s odd two guys with Shinies challenged you to a battle on the same day like that, having worked in this field as long as I have, I don’t believe in coincidences anymore.” Kihyun said, standing to his feet to pour himself another cup of coffee. Shownu knew Kihyun had a point on that one, but in his few meetings with Changkyun he could tell this kid was nowhere near capable of performing such an act… not with the amount of terror he saw in that boy’s eyes at the mere mention of a Shiny abduction. 

But with a problem this big, they  _ need _ to leave no stone unturned. 

“I know Changkyun, Mingi and I will bring him in.” Mingi looked wide at him with excitement, the young Ranger loved going out on missions, no matter how small they may be, it was almost adorable. “Ki, can you and Dami see if you can get some tabs on the Staravia kid?” Kihyun nodded with a fire in his eyes, Shownu grinned back, “Gun, you’re still having people sign waivers for that death trap you call a Gym, right?” 

“As my lawyer kindly suggested I’d do, yeah. Why?” 

“Great, that’s a place to start then!” Kihyun said, finishing Shownu’s thought. He pulled on his uniform jacket and clipped his styler to his belt, “I’ll grab Dami and head out, I’ll call if we find anything.” Shownu had to admit, despite the situation, it was nice to work with someone who was one step ahead of him. He silently hoped his younger Rangers were learning from Kinhyun’s take-charge attitude, then again, Kihyun  _ is _ a Leader in his own right… but Shownu doubts anyone is doing it quite like him. 

“Um? You’re just gonna leave me here alone?” Gunhee whined, his Pokémon each whacked him with a whine of their own, “You guys no what I meant…” He grumbled under his breath. 

“Of course not,” Shownu said, standing and retrieving his own jacket, encouraging Mingi to do the same, “Our Mechanic Yeosang will be here with you.” 

“He may as well be alone… Yeosang ain’t much of a talker…” Mingi added with a yawn.

“Yeosang… that’s a cute name. Is he a  _ cute _ guy too?” Gunhee  _ innocently  _ asked. 

“Say a single suggestive word to my Rangers and you’ll be feeling a lot more than a slight concussion.” Shownu eye smiled, causing Gunhee to tremble in his seat. Kihyun belted out a laugh that forced a blush to Shownu’s face, he never knew someone could laugh in perfect falsetto, but here he was, in awe of Yoo Kihyun…  _ I sure have been thinking that a lot…  _ The knowing smirk and eyebrow raise combo Gunhee was currently giving him certainly wasn’t helping. 

“Oh yes, it is  _ I _ these fine young Rangers must be wary of.” Gunhee deadpanned, but the feline-like grin was telling. Mingi looked blissfully confused.

Shownu decided it be best to just go ahead and  _ ignore that _ , so he cleared his throat and ordered everyone to move out. 

It was going to be a long day ahead of them indeed. 

**……….**

A tragedy unfolding behind the scenes… how will our Ranger heroes fair the trials and tribulations of the latest information? Only time is to tell. Let’s check back in with our  _ original _ heroes as they find themselves in a dilemma of their own… 

**……….**

“I will legitimately cry if you don’t let me have this one.”

“And  _ I  _ think you're  _ too big _ for this one.”

“Look my bicep in the veins and say that one more time.”

Changkyun sighed and leaned down to get eye level with Hoseok’s bulging muscle, “You’re too big to ride the Horsea, it was  _ literally _ made for a toddler!” He reasoned, trying to get his friend to see that there was no way he’d be able to ride the Horsea seat on the sea-themed carousel. 

“My bicep cannot understand, for my bicep does not have ears.” Hoseok stuck his tongue out before hopping on the Horsea, only to slide right off of it. Changkyun pressed his lips into a thin line to keep from laughing at the pouting adult man in front of him. Hoseok tried once more just to slip off again. He genuinely looked upset that he didn’t fit… 

Changkyun chuckled out a sigh as he helped Nuzleaf and Buneary onto a Kingdra, he peeked one seat over to make sure Punch and Shinx were secure on their Mantine before joining his friend’s side, “Here, hop up, I’ll make sure you won’t fall.” Hoseok beamed a blinding smile to accompany his cheerful  _ thanks, you’re the best! _ The older man hopped up once more, but before he could slip, Changkyun stood behind him and wrapped one arm around his waist and one hand on the support pole in front of them, keeping the pair firmly pressed together. Okay, so maybe Hoseok was a bit heavier than Changkyun thought - and  _ maybe _ this was the most painful position he’s ever been in, but Arceus, was it worth it to hear the eruption of joyous sounds Hoseok made as the ride started. 

The carousel in Altru Park had been one of the places on Hoseok’s grand  _ Exciting Things to Try While Traveling _ list. And since they were enroute to Chroma Highlands, it only felt right that they made the stop, and Changkyun was more than happy to enjoy the experience with him. Hoseok cheered and beamed as the ride moved round and round, giving them a beautiful view of the expansive park and all the people occupying it. Changkyun tried his best to ignore all the people watching them, but in the crowds defence, it must have been quite… peculiar to see a twenty-something riding a tiny Horsea with his hands up in a delighted squeal while another adult man keeps him upright - he decided to just focus on his friend than the curious onlookers, it’s more fun that way. 

“I’m having the time of my life!” Hoseok half laughed, half yelled. Changkyun chuckled and shoved his face into Hoseok’s shoulder to smother the wide smile he knows is splitting across his face.  _ I’m having the time of my life, too. _

The ride eventually came to a stop, but the stream of laughs and giggles only began. Changkyun helped a slightly dizzy Hoseok off the Horsea and led him by the hand off the ride, “It wasn’t even spinning that fast, how did you get so dizzy?” Changkyun chuckled as he sat him down on a nearby bench, looking briefly over his shoulder to make sure their Pokémon followed them off… thank Arceus they did.

“I got so excited I forgot to breathe.” Hoseok wheezed. Changkyun sat beside the man and rubbed his back.

“Worth it, though?” 

“One hundred percent!” 

Changkyun tittered, giving the older man one last pat before standing, Hoseok pouted deeply at the loss of contact, but Changkyun didn’t give him a second to complain, “Sit tight for a sec, I’ll go grab us some cotton candy.”

“Cotton candy?!” Hoseok beamed with child-like wonder.

“Have you never had it before?” Changkyun teased slightly, already knowing the answer, so he wasn’t surprised when Hoseok shook his head. The Trainer cooed at his cute friend and told him he’ll be right back. The great thing about the little park is that there didn’t seem to be a shortage of food stalls lining the street, so it wasn’t difficult to find exactly what he was looking for. A cotton candy stand that shaped their sweet snack in the image of cutesy versions of cutesy Pokémon - he had seen it as they walked in and noticed how Hoseok’s eyes grew to the size of dinner plates as he watched the candy maker create an Poliwag out of the cloud-like confection. 

Changkyun approached the stand and placed an order for the Poliwag that grabbed Hoseok’s attention and a pink mound of Jigglypuff for himself. He exchanged his cash for the sweet treats and made his way back to his waiting friend. Changkyun saw Hoseok’s messy black hair and broad shoulders amidst the crowd, he was still seated, playing with Buneary and Changkyun’s own precious partners; his heart soared when he watched the other man try his hardest to smooth the blue curls of fur that had redently begun to grow all over Shinx (she’d need a trim soon…), as Punch jumped around asking for attention too, Nuzleaf was there to offer her pets with his new hands, which seemed to satisfy the pup. It’s amazing to see how quickly Punch was able to warm up to Hoseok, it wasn’t long ago that she wouldn’t even  _ look _ at him, then again, she didn’t much like being drenched in milk… 

Hoseok’s smile widened when he turned his head to see Changkyun approaching, and even wider when he saw the delicacies in each of his hands. 

“How did you know I wanted the Poliwag!?” Hoseok happily exclaimed, making grabby hands at the cotton candy. Changkyun chuckled as he handed it to Hoseok, who marveled at it as if it were an expensive art piece… okay, maybe that descriptor wasn’t too far off, but Changkyun was happy to know he enjoyed it! 

“Lucky guess~” He cheekily grinned. 

“Thank you…” Hoseok’s smile became a lot smaller, but Changkyun could tell it carried a lot more weight than the older was ready to admit, that it wasn’t just about some candy. There was a hundred and one things he wanted to say in response, like  _ This is the very least I could do for you _ , but the words seemed to die on the tip of his tongue, so he nodded and smiled and bit into his own treat as he watched Hoseok contemplate which part of his Poliwag he wanted to devour first. When he did finally take that first bite, though, his face split into a smile so wide, Changkyun was almost afraid Hoseok’s face would be permanently stretched.

“It’s sweeter than I thought, but it’s so good! And fluffy?! What is it exactly?”

“What if I told you it’s just straight sugar?”

“I would accuse you of witchcraft.”

Changkyun leaned in and whispered in his ear, “Magic!” He wiggled his fingers for emphasis. Hoseok shoved him with a pitched squeal, then realized that was  _ way _ too much force and helped the giggling Trainer sit upright again. 

They sat in a comfortable silence enjoying their cotton candy and watching the Pokémon play around in the grass. Changkyun sat back and took in the sounds and view of the bustling park, but the thing that caught his attention the most was none other than the infamous Altru Tower. 

Despite the history behind the building, he still found himself in awe at the skyscraper before them, the deep purple paneling on the outer walls glimmered with a gentle glow. But the most stunning thing about it was how the sunlight refracted off the top of the tower and casted the area around the very top of it with a rainbow of light that seemed to shimmer over the park below it. Changkyun shielded his eyes to get a better look, “Altru Tower sure is beautiful.” 

“It sure is,” Hoseok longingly sighed, “I remember when it was first built. Wonnie and I would venture out to Breeze Hill and climb the tallest tree I could handle and watch it slowly come together,” His words were full of nostalgia, Changkyun subconsciously leaned forward in interest. “But it was a nightmare when it finally did finish.” He frowned. 

Changkyun heard the stories of the Altru Tower, everyone has. It was a modern day horror story that spread across each region, but it hadn’t occurred to him that Hoseok himself was part of that dark moment in Almia’s history. Hoseok looked at him warily, Changkyun placed a hand on his to let him know it was okay for him to continue if he wanted to.

“There was this organization called Team Dim Sun that wanted to harness the power of Darkrai to create an non depletable energy source, that’s how Crawford worded it, at least.” He chuckled, “But in order to do that they had to control it first, and well… the power that gave off blacked out the sun  _ and  _ sent the local Pokémon into a pained, mind-controlled frenzy. I think that was the most scared I've ever been in my whole life… the sound of Pokémon screaming in pain still haunts my nightmares, to be honest.” 

Hoseok was so easy to read in times like these, the expression on his face told Changkyun he reliving that pain with each word he retold. He squeezed his hand in reassurance, Hoseok took a small breath and continued.

“But I think what made it scarier was that I was alone for all of it. I lost my parents a few months prior - a boating accident… - I was young, and staying at the Depot until the town could figure out how they could help, all the Rangers were gone that day… and it was just me.” Hoseok cleared his throat and blinked back a few tears that were threatening to spill over, but the look in his eyes didn’t hold that same sadness they had at the start of the story. They were soft, like he was looking at something truly magnificent, but he was only looking at Changkyun. “But it’s been easier to make peace with those memories now, and I think it’s because I don’t feel alone anymore.” 

_ Oh… He’s talking about me…  _

A storm of emotions was brewing inside of Changkyun as he took in and digested everything Hoseok just told him. Half of him didn’t feel at all deserving of the attention this man with the heart of pure gold was giving him, but the part of him that’s learned to find value in himself reached out to give him a hug. It’s funny, he’s only known Hoseok for about a month, but already it feels like he’s known him his whole life. How much better his life would have been if he had. 

“Thank you for being my first friend.” Changkyun blurted, an embarrassed flush covering his cheeks instantly. Hoseok held him closer, a low chuckle rumbling through his chest. 

“I’m your first friend?” He asked in disbelief. Changkyun mumbled incoherently against Hoseok’s shoulder, “What was that?” Changkyun pulled himself out of his embrace and frowned, Hoseok smile dropped as he watched Changkyun try to string the right words together to tell him his own story.

“Yeah… you are. Besides Punch, of course.” He strained out a laugh, he never thought discussing his childhood would be so… emotionally taxing. “I was always kinda the loner kid no one wanted to talk to, and when they did it was to jeer me for wanting to be a Trainer - they doubted pretty much everything I did, actually. I went a long time feeling lonely in a room full of people…stupid… unimportant. I never had anyone.” Changkyun sighed, trying his best not to dwell too much on the past, but it was hard to ignore when he plucked at the stitch keeping the memories sealed away, “Well, I never had anyone  _ human _ . Punch was all I had - she was my only friend for the longest time.” He took a deep breath and met Hoseok’s teary eyes with his own, “But that isn’t the case anymore, and I have you to thank for that.”

Hoseok threw himself around the young Trainer and rambled a series of praise and encouragements into his shoulder, “If it means anything, I love talking to you  _ and _ I think you’re the best Trainer ever, screw what all those kids said.” Changkyun giggled, but only because he could feel Hoseok pout against the fabric of his shirt. 

“It means a lot, actually.” Changkyun confessed. It was difficult to describe the feeling that was coursing through him, but it was… warm. To have gone so long without having anyone in his corner to making -- what he was willing to call -- a best friend, Changkyun felt he was truly blessed to have a person like Hoseok in his life. 

“I feel blessed to have you in my life too!”

“I didn’t mean to say that out loud!”

“Too late, it’s out there, I’m gonna cherish it!” Changkyun lightly punched at Hoseok's chest with an embarrassed groan, “Stop, that tickles!” Hoseok cutely laughed. 

Maybe the warmth he felt was euphoria… elation? Changkyun didn’t want to just slap the word  _ happy _ on it - it felt too simple. He’d come back to that later… But he knows he wouldn’t trade this feeling for anything in the world. 

**……….**

  
  


“We have to go where now?” Changkyun asked, mouth agape like Hoseok just said something unbelievable - which, maybe he had?

Hoseok chuckled at the man’s reaction, “I’ve been told it isn’t  _ that _ bad. Daunting, maybe, but not, like, scary.” 

“No it’s just… I’ve never heard of a Gym being underground before.” Changkyun scratched at the back of his head in thought, “How far down is it?”

“Half a mile? Give or take.” Hoseok hummed, trying to recall the harrowing story Hyungwon once told him about his trip down to the Ruins in search of the Chroma Gym. 

_ “Whoever decided to build a Gym down there was out of their mind, do you know how much climbing and falling I had to do to get to the doors of that damn Gym?” Hyungwon groaned from where he was occupying Hoseok’s living room floor - his first day back from conquering the League.  _

_ “How many!?” Hoseok asked, enthralled with his friends tales of adventure.  _

_ “Too. Damn. Many.”  _

He found himself snorting at the memory - Hyungwon had been so dramatic about it, so there’s no way it was  _ nearly _ as bad as he was making it out to be. But based off the details he heard, Chroma Gym is located deep within the mines of Chroma Ruins, the path there is a cold, dark labyrinth all its own - and while the promise of having to run around in the dark didn’t exactly appeal to Hoseok, he knew he’d be fine if he had Changkyun with him. 

“That doesn’t sound too bad,” Changkyun said, stretching his arms up to the sky, “may as well soak the up sun while we have the chance, huh?” Hoseok huffed a laugh at his feline-like mentality as they carried on down their path. The duo came to a fork in the road after leaving Pueltown, the route to the next two Gyms were down two seperate ways: The shining metropolis known as Altru City, and rustic Chroma Highlands. A Fighting Type Gym and Psychic Type Gym respectively. Either way they went would be a road of struggle and triumph for the Trainer, so they were fine with flipping a coin to decide the next stage of their journey. 

Hoseok wasn’t expecting this route to be so… scenic, though! He’s been surrounded by a forest landscape his entire life, so leaving there and coming to  _ another _ smaller forest was blowing his  _ mind _ . Like, who would have thought there’d be so many trees outside of the Vien?

“You okay over there? You’ve been quiet for an uncharacteristically long amount of time.” The Trainer asked, scanning his friend with concern etched into his features. 

Hoseok blinked himself back into reality, “Oh, I was just looking at the trees.” He said, rather dumbly,  _ Arceus, how do I even explain that.. _ . Changkyun giggled and spread his arms out, gesturing at the surrounding flora.

“It does have a different feel than Vien Forest, huh? Like, the trees look the same and the wind flows through the branches the same too, but the energy it carries is so…” Changkyun trailed off, looking for the right words.

“Different, but oddly similar… It’s like, I’m on the other side of the region, but I’m still home. But…” 

“But?” 

“It doesn’t have the same suffocating feeling.”

“Almost liike you’re breathing fresh air for the first time after shutting yourself in a musty room for longer than socially acceptable?” Changkyun threw out.

Hoseok stopped in place and looked at the man who kept walking in front of him, the younger man looked over his shoulder at Hoseok.  _ Yeah… It’s exactly like that… _ It felt nice not having to explain his complicated thoughts, it’s downright refreshing to have someone just  _ understand _ him. 

Hoseok smiled at the other man and jogged the rest of the way to meet him, Changkyun’s eyes widened as Hoseok didn’t slow down, but instead, threw his arms around his wide shoulders and let a laugh fall from his lips.

“You’re an amazing guy, Im Changkyun~” 

A strained giggle escaped Changkyun like a ghost as Hoseok’s weight slowly crushed him, but from the hand that came up to tenderly pat his wrist, he could tell it was a welcomed gesture. 

The loud rustling of a bush pulled them out of their little… whatever you want to call that. The pair paused mid squish as their eyes slowly moved in the direction of the sound, “You heard that too, right?” Changkyun asked, just as a low growl rumbled from the bush in question. 

“I definitely heard that…” Hoseok removed himself from the Trainer and moved them back a few safe paces. Just as they thought they were a safe enough distance away from whatever was lurking behind the bush, a small black and red Pokémon emerged with its fangs bared at the two men, “Um, Mr. Trainer? What Pokémon is this and how do we get away from it?” Hoseok gulped. 

Changkyun shakily pulled out his Pokédex and scanned the angry Pokémon.

_ Houndour, the Dark Pokémon. Houndour travel in packs and communicate through barks in order to surround their prey. _ The electronic voice of the Pokédex kindly informed. 

“Oh, well that’s reassuring!” Hoseok did his best to quell the panic that was rising in his chest, he looked over to Changkyun to see how he was faring with the possible danger, but the Trainer didn’t seem bothered, if anything, he looked concerned. 

Changkyun took a small step forward and the Houndour lowered itself to a battle-ready stance, but the pup lost its balance slightly and stumbled to the grass with a frustrated howl. Hoseok had to squint to notice from how far away they were, but it looked like the Houndour was missing a hind leg. 

“Hey there, little one…” Changkyun said, pulling a protein bar out of his bag and opening it as an offering for the Pokémon. Houndour growled once more and Changkyun stopped mid step, “Okay, sorry for impeding on your space… but you seemed a bit hangry… so here you go.” He tossed the bar close enough for Houndour to reach, “We’ll get out of your way now.”

Changkyun retreated slowly back towards Hoseok as the Pokémon nosed at the food with a scowl. It stood to its feet and nudged the bar out of the way and resumed its stance. 

“Um, Kyun…” Hoseok shrilled, “It didn’t work!” The Houndour took his moment of terror as an opportunity to lunge at the duo. The men split in opposite directions as Houndour came tearing down the middle.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to piss you off!” Changkyun shrieked, “We don’t wanna fight, we promise to leave- AH! DID YOU JUST SPIT FIRE AT ME?!”

Hoseok watched helplessly as his friend got chased around by Pokémon that was hardly two feet tall, under any other circumstances this would be funny… but right now- 

“Your shirt is on fire!” Hoseok screeched. Luckily, the shrill sound of Hoseok yelling startled Changkyun to the point he tripped, forcing him into a stop, drop and roll maneuver. With one of its opponents down for the count, Houndour trained its attention on Hoseok. Hoseok gulped as the Pokémon’s eyes narrowed on the older man; Houndour charged with unpredictable speed. 

Hoseok was scared stiff as fire crackled behind the tiny canine’s fangs, he couldn’t bring himself to move even in the face of imminent danger. 

_ Come on, Hoseok… move!  _ He scolded himself, but he still couldn’t bring his feet to move an inch, he could only close his eyes and wait for the inevitable attack. 

“PUNCH! TACKLE!”

The only thing Hoseok’s fear-stricken mind could comprehend was a golden blur and the thud of an impact. Hoseok blink once, twice, before his knees buckled with the sudden relief of not being  _ maimed _ . He found himself sitting flat on the grass as he willed his heart back into a steady rhythm, Hoseok looked up to see Changkyun laying chest first in the dirt -- only lightly singed -- as he oversaw the battle he desperately tried to avoid, the Trainer briefly met eyes with Hoseok and sighed in relief as he saw the older man was unharmed before tuning back into the predicament they found themselves in. 

The two pups stood across from each other with a competitive glare with snarls to match. Houndour made the first move by shooting a barrage of hot embers in Punch’s direction, the golden pup ducked and dipped to evade the attack, but she she wasn’t able to come out of it completely unscathed - several small patches of fur burned off to the skin before she was able to put herself out. Punch never let any of the pain she felt show, though, because she was up and running as she aimed for a powerful bite attack to Houndour’s front leg. 

Houndour pivoted to avoid the attack, but lost its balance in the movement. The dark pup fell back as Punch closed in, and while the attack she had planned was followed through… It didn’t land the way she was hoping. Punch threw down a large chomp on the band of bone-like material that made up Houndour’s ankle. Both parties let out a pained whine - Houndour tucked its front paw beneath it in a defensive curl, while Punch hid her snout beneath her paws with a pained groan. 

Changkyun saw this as his chance to join the fray, he crawled over to his pup and pulled her into his lap to check for any damage to her jaw and teeth, judging by the relieved sigh he made, Hoseok assumed she was  _ somewhat  _ okay. Then, in a move that surprised Hoseok, Changkyun placed a careful hand on Houndour and to check how it was doing. Houndour flinched back with a deep bark, but as soon as Changkyun’s warm hand made contact with the dark pup’s fur, Houndour melted into the touch with a low whine. 

“I’m really sorry about that, little one… but my friend is very important to me, and I didn’t really like it when you ran at him like that.” Changkyun frowned, Houndour lowered its head to the grass with another whine. “I’m really sorry if my actions earlier upset you, it’s my fault for thinking that giving food can solve all my Pokémon problems… but you didn’t see it as me just feeding you, huh?” Houndour grunted in annoyance, but still kept a soft gaze on the Trainer, “You’re a very strong Pokémon… and very young it seems, you should be proud!” Changkyun smiled and gave Houndour a few gentle pets before pulling his backpack off and sifting through its contents, he pulled out a few potion bottles and got started on his next self-assigned mission. 

“Okay guys, let’s get you two healed up, shall we?” Changkyun sprayed the burn relief potion on Punch’s fur and the standard potion on Houndour’s ankle. He frowned at his own pup as she cradled her snout in her paws, “Looks like we’ll have to take you to the Pokémon Center, sweetheart… How are you, Houndour?”

Houndour cocked its little head to the side as it moved its foot in little circles, it grimaced slightly, but looked a lot better than mere moments ago. Houndour barked out a happy tune, even licked at Changkyun’s hand in thanks. 

Hoseok’s felt a small smile pull at his lips as he watched in awe as Changkyun tended to the Pokémon with the utmost care. The amount of care he poured into Pokémon that wasn’t even his filled Hoseok with… what is this feeling? Pride? Yeah, he could say he was proud of Changkyun for being a good, heart-warming, selfless human being. The way he bridged the gap from trespasser of a territorial Pokémon to  _ friend _ so quickly… The way he was able to jump to action and save him from danger… it was honestly the most amazing thing Hoseok had ever seen.

He watched the Trainer’s gentle hands soothe both Pokémon as he talked to them like he was their equal - Changkyun was almost like a Ranger in that respect. Hoseok has had the thought before, because Changkyun has shown him more than once all the love he had to give for the creatures they share a world with. Changkyun was astounding… incredible…  _ inspiring. _ It doesn’t matter how many times he’s told Changkyun exactly that, the Trainer deserved to hear it every minute of every hour of every day. 

“Changk-”

“Um, excuse me? Hoseok?”

Hoseok was startled out of his thoughts by a strong voice, he turned around, and to his surprise it was Shownu and much taller (and younger) Ranger. Shownu had bags and dark circles carved under his eyes… that wasn’t quite right. He looked tired in more ways than one, and Hoseok isn’t all too acquainted with the older man, but he could tell this wasn’t a common state to find the Ranger in - the younger Ranger looked just as haggard as his Leader. Hoseok made a surprised face as they drew closer, they seemed to grab Changkyun’s attention now as well, because the Trainer peeked over his shoulder to see what was going on. 

“Yes?” Hoseok couldn't find a more intelligent response to give him, not with this sense of dread slowly creeping up his spine. 

“We would like to speak with Im Changkyun,” Shownu said, looking over Hoseok’s shoulder to see Changkyun sitting in the grass offering Houndour some unsolicited life advice, “Is he, uh… available?” 

Hoseok rasped out a chuckle, “He’s with a patient right now… try again later?” He wasn’t entirely sure why he was so nervous right now, but every bit of logic and reason he has is telling him to be on high alert. 

“Hoseok…” Shownu sighed, “I know no one likes talking to the authorities, but this is an urgent matter.” Hoseok gulped.

“Um-”

“How can I help you?” Changkyun spoke up, placing a gentle hand on Hoseok’s shoulder. Hoseok just about jumped fifty feet in the air, earning a concerned face from his dear friend. 

Shownu pressed his lips in a firm line before bringing himself to speak, “There isn’t an easy way to say this, but Changkyun, we need you to come back to the Pueltown Depot to answer a few questions.”

Changkyun faltered for a second, his grip on Hoseok tightening just a fraction. Hoseok felt rocked to his core.  _ What could they possibly want with Changkyun of all people? _

“Am I being arrested…?” Changkyun cautiously asked. 

“Oh, no!” Shownu clarified, “It’s just… There was an incident involving the Pueltown Gym Leader and we want to question everyone he battled with over the last few weeks.” Changkyun seemed to relax a bit, but Hoseok still felt uneasy. 

“Is Gunhee okay?!” Changkyun asked, concern evident from his tone to his posture, something in the Trainer’s actions put the Ranger visibaly at ease, but the stress was very clear in his answer. 

“Please come with us and we will discuss everything further.” 

“Okay,” Changkyun said, moving to follow the Rangers back. Hoseok reached for his hand like it was a reflex he always had and almost begged him not to leave, at least not without him. Changkyun smiled brightly at the man and gave his hand a reassuring squeeze. “Um… do I need to…” The Trainer gestured at his Pokéball belt and the Rangers  _ ‘ah’ed’ _ .

“It would be best if you did,” The younger Ranger said, voice sounding deep and timid at the same time. Changkyun simply nodded and removed the ball carrier from the belt and entrusted it to Hoseok. 

“Watch my babies for me, okay?” It was a simple task, but to Hoseok, it was like Changkyun placed his whole world in his calloused hands. The Trainer looked back to Punch and gave her small smile, “Behave for him, okay?” Punch whined and laid her head in her paws as Changkyun turned around and started walking away. 

Hoseok’s head was spinning.  _ What am I supposed to do? Punch is still injured… so is that Houndour…  _ He felt overwhelmed with the amount of things happening, he needed some guidance…  _ Oh… what would Changkyun do? _ Changkyun always seemed to know what to do when it came to Pokémon, Hoseok just needed to calm down and think… 

_ Getting the Pokémon healed up should be step one…  _ Hoseok flipped through his mental map of Almia and remembered that there’s a Pokémon Center further up on Chroma Road - much closer than if he were to just follow them. With a destination in mind, he scooped up the pups in each arm and quickly called over his shoulder: “I’ll meet you at the Depot!” To the three figures that were slowly growing smaller in the distance. 

Hoseok was afraid Changkyun didn’t hear him, but a loud, “I was hoping so!” that was carried with the wind washed a wave of calm across his heart.

With newfound resolve and determination, Hoseok sped down the dirt path to the Pokémon Center, “Let’s get you little troublemakers healed up, yeah?” 

**……….**

Kihyun picked the file off of Shownu’s less-than-pristine desk and flipped through it. It wasn’t much to look through - only half a page worth of information. Not ideal for the type of investigation they were conducting, but it was more than what they had on their mystery Staravia Trainer. Kihyun nearly screamed when he and Dami went to collect the waiver paperwork from the Gym, only to find that the form that could possibly match Staravia Trainer was signed with a stylized drawing of a peace sign.

Suspicious? Abso-fuckin-lutley. The only problem is that this puts them back to square one with their search, they couldn’t even get a good profile on the guy. Short black hair, not very tall, kind of plain looking, young… but could be mid-twenties. How the  _ hell _ do you search for someone like  _ that _ ? That’s every other person in this town and beyond! 

_ At least we still have this Changkyun kid. _ Kihyun sighed, tucking the file under his arm and grabbing another cup of coffee before making his way to the makeshift interrogation room. Arceus knows Rangers weren’t really built for the brunt authoritative work like this, but desperate times call for desperate measures… Kihyun rounded the corner and was met with Shownu leaning against the door fiddling with his styler, he didn’t look up until Kihyun cleared his throat. The older Ranger tossed his styler from hand to hand in surprise before getting a grip and acting like that never happened; Kihyun chuckled at the overly stoic expression Shownu was pulling. 

“Someone’s a bit jumpy.” 

“No idea what you’re talking about.”

Kihyun snorted a laugh and passed him the file, “Okay then, do you have an idea about this kid, then?” 

Shownu skimmed over the file and sighed, “Other than he’s a new Trainer and has a nervous tremor? Nope.” He said, popping the p.  _ Great, so “from Sinnoh.” is really all they have on him, huh? _

“So how do you wanna approach this? Good Ranger Bad Ranger?” Kihyun suggested, his question punctuated with a yawn, he was really operating on the minimum amount of sleep needed to keep a human functioning, “I play a good Bad Ranger.” He added with a wink. Shownu coughed awkwardly, tips of his ears turning a pretty pink. Even though Kihyun  _ loved _ seeing Shownu flustered, he had to reprimand himself, because now certainly wasn’t the time nor place for this… maybe later, though.

“I don’t think that’ll be necessary, he was very eager to comply earlier. Once we get past that nervous shell of his, I’m sure we’ll find something… though I still don’t think this kid is involved with any of this.” Shownu frowned, closing the file and leaning back against the door with a tired groan. 

Kihyun rested a hand on Shownu’s shoulder, “I trust your judgement, but he is our  _ only _ lead right now.” 

Shownu nodded his understanding before turning on his heel and entering the room. Changkyun sat fidgeting at the table with his head in his hands, the kid in question whipped his head up the second the door shut with a light  _ thunk _ . Changkyun looked wrecked from the short wait, sweat was already forming on his hairline from the nerves he was evidently feeling. Kihyun now knew what Shownu meant when he said there’s no way this kid could be involved, he was hardly keeping himself together where he sat - Kihyun almost felt sorry for the kid. 

Then he remembered he has a job to do.

“Hello Changkyun. My name is Yoo Kihyun, I’m sure you’ve been acquainted with Shownu. You must be wondering why we called you here today.” He said, taking a seat with Shownu across from the trembling young man. 

Changkyun shook his head, avoiding their gaze, “N-no. Shownu had said this has something to do with an incident related to Song Gunhee…” He said, “What happened? Is he okay?” And that was maybe the only time the younger man was able to meet their eyes.  _ He seems sincere…  _

Kihyun sighed, “Late last night slash early this morning, Gunhee was attacked and had one of his Pokémon stolen from him. His Shiny Dewgong…” Kihyun was aware the way he said it made him sound slightly defeated, but it was only because he was, “He’s doing about as good as you’d think… a few cuts and bruises to match too.”

Changkyun’s eyes widened in terror as he covered his mouth in shock, “Oh my Arceus…” And then realization dawned on him, “And you think… I had something to do with it?” 

“No,” Shownu quickly established, “but with how swiftly the crime was committed, we’ve been able to narrow it down to someone he’s recently battled with. We just want to build your alibi, maybe see if you have some pieces that could help us put this puzzle together.” Changkyun nodded warily, “Great, so if you could tell us where you were from around 12 A.M to 3 A.M this morning, that would take you off the suspect list. 

“Asleep… My friend Hoseok and I got into Altru Park yesterday evening around 8 P.M and we went straight to a campsite on Union Road for the night.” 

“Anyone who could corroborate that?” Kihyun asked, taking note.

“Other than Hoseok? Maybe the groundskeeper? We had to write our names down in a logbook before we could occupy our camping area.” Kihyun was very familiar with the campground in question, it was within his usual patrol radius, he’ll give the groundskeeper a call later to confirm, but his story seems to check out. That part of Almia is a good six hour walk, even then, it’s highly likely the perps left on boat. 

“Okay, now have you seen a Shiny Staravia around before or after your battle with Gunhee?” Changkyun simply shook his head.  _ Damn… an elusive bastard this one is…  _ “Last question, do you know anything about a man in a flashy yellow suit with a Castform? He was last seen in Vientown around their Gym.”

“Oh? Minhyuk?”

Kihyun and Shownu both looked at each other with the same eyebrow raise, they looked back to Changkyun who looked visibly panicked now, “W-wait, I don’t know what’s going on, but he’s a good guy!” 

_ So this kid does know something… _

Shownu leaned over the table and forced the shaking man to look at him, “Changkyun, I’m going to need you to tell me everything you know about this Minhyuk guy.” He said gently, very contradictory to his intimidating posture, but it helped the young man unfreeze. 

“I-I don’t kno-”

“Changkyun… this is important. He may be connected to the abductions. Please, Pokémon are being taken from their partners.”

“YEAH. POKÉMON ARE BEING TAKEN FROM THEIR PARTNERS!” Came the horrendous sob from none other than Song Gunhee himself, who seemed to have let himself in during the interrogation without the knowledge of any of the men in the room.

Kihyun nearly broke his neck with how fast he whipped his head around, “When did you get in here-!?” Gunhee shushed him.  _ He SHUSHED me!? The audacity! _

Gunhee planted both bandaged hands on the table and got eye-level with the Trainer. Changkyun jumped back on reflex, but allowed himself a chance to take in Gunhee’s battered state. Kihyun didn’t even have to squint to see the tears welling up in the kid’s eyes. 

“Look kid, I know for a damn fact that you haven’t played a fucking hand in this,” Gunhee’s voice trembled and cracked from the strain of trying to keep himself together, “but if you know  _ anything _ … please.” He begged. Kihyun’s jaw tightened, Gunhee was an obnoxious, prideful man, but Kihyun would rather suffer a million migraines than see Gunhee so… devastated. Tears rolled soundlessly down Changkyun's face, his mouth opened and closed like he wanted to speak, but the words kept catching in his throat and choked him alive. If Kihyun could describe the wrenching sight before him it would be  _ terror-stricken _ \- like the weight of the world and all it’s problems just slammed themselves down atop his shoulders. Kihyun could sympathize. 

“H-h… his name is Lee Minhyuk.” Changkyun choked out, his words were heavy, like he himself wasn’t sure he should be speaking them. “He said he’s part of a group called SHINee - they do public research on Shinies so they can better understand them or something... “ He shuddered, wiping stray tears from his eyes, “He travels around with one other man named Lee Jooheon, and they recruit people and their Shinies to join their research team. Minhyuk had asked me if I’d be interested, but I turned them down and he backed off immediately.”

Kihyun scribbled down his statement feverishly. This is the first he heard of this group; definitely something they would all need to look into - a group that specializes in the study of Shiny Pokémon?  _ Totally not suspicious at all _ , Kihyun inwardly scoffed. 

“But I  _ really _ believe they aren’t involved!” Changkyun insisted, “We told them about the abductions and they looked genuinely upset!” All three men froze in their places, and just looked at each other with the same shocked look. 

“When did you tell them?” Shownu asked sternly, startling even Kihyun. 

Changkyun fumbled over his words looking for the answer, “Last week, when we got into town…” Shownu groaned in frustration as he slouched in his seat.  _ Oh…  _

“So, they’ve known about our investigation days before we made the official statement…” Shownu said, tossing his pen on the table.

“What are the odds of them knowing we  _ know  _ about  _ them _ ?” Kihyun asked. They put out an alert for Minhyuk a few days ago, but that was only between the Rangers - they had no intention of putting out a region-wide alert yet, in fear of the man skipping town; but if he knows now that Rangers are more of aware of their actions, who’s to say he’s even still here?

Gunhee straightened his posture and looked at Kihyun with a steeled gaze, “Get the Union on the line and tell them we need Rangers and officers posted at each road and port. Who knows where they could be right now.” Kihyun could feel his eye twitch in irritation. 

“You’re not a Ranger! You can’t just order us around!” Kihyun flared, but it only brought a small smile to Gunhee’s face; the first one Kihyun’s seen all day. Shownu pat him on the back with a hushed  _ calm down _ , and those two factors were enough to get Kihyun to simmer down just a bit. 

“Gun, while that is an  _ excellent _ idea, please remember that you don’t actually have authority here. I must ask you to refrain from overstepping.” Shownu said, hand still on Kihyun, but he’s pretty sure it’s only because he’s still at risk of jumping the Gym Leader out of frustration alone.  _ This is what I get for being nice to him for more than a second UGH! _

Gunhee pulled a strained grin and gave thumbs up, though, with all the gauze it looked more like an chunky oven mit, “Got it, boss!”

“I’m not your boss.”

“Comrade.”

“Go lay back down.”

Gunhee nodded before turning back to the very tearful, very confused, Changkyun and bowed lightly. Kihyun’s jaw dropped at the random display of humbleness as Gunhee expressed words of thanks, “I can tell this wasn’t easy for you, but thank you for cooperating…”

Changkyun sniffled back his tears and bowed in response, “I hope you find her.”

“Yeah, I hope so too.” He said, before quietly making his exit. As much as Kihyun hates how much that man has made his blood pressure spike to the heavens, he still wished they could wrap this investigation up for his sake. Kihyun leaned back in his seat, surprised to feel the weight of Shownu’s hand still on his back; it was grounding… almost reassuring. Kihyun looked at the owner of the hand, who must have realized it was still taking up residency on his fellow Ranger, because he slowly retracted it with an awkward pat. Kihyun airly chuckled at Shownu’s bashfulness and sent him -- what he was hoping was -- a warm smile. It’s difficult to put into words how grateful he is for Shownu’s air of calm, it’s definitely been beneficial given the stress of the current situation-  _ oh, wait, the kid’s still here… _

Kihyun cleared his throat and folded his hands on the table, returning his attention to Changkyun, “Thank you for cooperating with us, the information could potentially bring all these missing Pokémon home,” Kihyun could tell there was some form of regret swimming in the young man’s eyes, “you did good, Changkyun.” 

That didn’t seem to convince him, though, in fact, it looked like the color faded from his skin and left his eyes an empty void. Kihyun frowned, wanting to say more, but Changkyun spoke instead, “Can I be dismissed now?”

“Yes… thanks again…” 

Changkyun only nodded as he stood from his seat and wordlessly left the room. Kihyun looked to Shownu with a deeping frown, “Why do I feel like we just did more harm than good?”

Shownu thumped his head on the table with a short groan, “Oh good, glad I’m not the only one.” Nothing about those words felt sarcastic, they felt more sympathetic than anything; now it was Kihyun’s turn to comfort the older. He rubbed the Shownu’s shoulder until he turned his face on the table to look at Kihyun. It was kind of cute how his face was squished against the table, forcing his lips into a small pout, “But it’s all we have, huh?” Kihyun nodded with a frown.

“Do you want me to call the Union?” 

“Could you?” Shownu asked, sounding uncharacteristically defeated. 

“Yeah. Want to get something to eat after? It would have to be a working lunch, though…” Kihyun offered. Shownu perked up at the mention of food, and Kihyun couldn’t help but let a giggle bubble in his throat, “Then let’s get moving, shall we?” 

**……….**

_Oh Arceus above, please tell me this guilt is justified…_

Changkyun could feel his heart race in a way that only foretold a complete breakdown. This situation was so  _ fucked _ . He couldn’t tell what was real anymore, was Minhyuk lying to him, or was he innocent? Every fiber of Changkyun’s being was telling him that Minhyuk hasn’t done wrong, but the urgency from the Rangers, and fuck, from  _ Gunhee _ , put Changkyun in such a pitiful place. 

The defeated man took a seat in the lobby of the Depot - Hoseok did say he’d met him here, afterall… Actually, the more he thought about his friend, the more at ease he felt. Hoseok’s presence on its own brought a new calm to Changkyun’s life, even the  _ thought  _ of him was enough. Wait… why can he hear him right now-

“CHANGKYUN?!” Was yelled throughout the lobby, accompanied by the loud sound of the front door being kicked open. Everyone in the room shot up in surprise as a very large, very sweaty man stepped inside with a Pokémon in each hand- and  _ oh, this is my very large and sweaty man…  _

Hoseok scanned the lobby, mouth falling open as he saw the man he was searching for sitting awkwardly in the corner of the room, “Changkyun!” He said, a lot quieter this time. Punch hopped out of his muscular arm and bounded over to her partner with a happy yip. Changkyun scooped her up and planted kisses all over her little head, her jaw seemed to be feeling a lot better, and the burn marks on her fur were nearly faded too. Changkyun stood to greet Hoseok with a hug next, but a pair of fluffy ears shot up from behind his head as he stepped closer, the Trainer snorted out a giggle as Hoseok’s shining eyes squinted in confusion. 

Changkyun pointed up at his head and Hoseok  _ ooh’d _ as he reached behind him and pulled out a swirly-eyed Buneary and chuckled out an apology, “Sorry Bun, I’ll walk slower next time…” That was enough to tell the little Pokémon was probably hanging on for dear life as Hoseok raced through the streets of Pueltown to make it here. Changkyun peered down to see an excited Houndour looking up at him, the Trainer smiled and greeted the pup with a chin scratch, Houndour  _ really _ seemed to like that seeing as it wagged its stubby tail in delight.

“It’s nice to see you again~” Changkyun cooed, he raised his head to look at Hoseok, who was wearing the biggest grin, and finally gave him that hug, “Thanks for taking care of them, Seok.” He mumbled into the man’s shoulder. 

“Of course!” Hoseok rubbed the younger’s back, Changkyun couldn’t really think of a safer place to be, it helped to take his mind off of everything that happened… in the… interrogation room…  _ Arceus… _ Changkyun could feel himself start to shake again. “Kyunnie… are you okay?” Hoseok asked, concern dripping from his voice. 

“The interrogation just shook me up a bit-”

“They interrogated you?”

“Yea-”

“SHOWNU-” Changkyun covered his mouth with a  _ shhhhhh, don’t disturb the Rangers! _ as he dragged the man outside. 

Changkyun led them to a small park space that was secluded enough to discuss the sensitive matter at hand; they parked themselves on a bench and Changkyun allowed himself to catch his breath - mostly because he pulled a man twice his size at fairly brisk pace, the added terror of situation was just a fun little bonus. 

He wasted not even a second relaying the details of his nerve-wracking time in the hot-seat. New tears sprung to his eyes as he recalled all the pain that he felt radiating off of Gunhee to how he regrets telling them about Minhyuk and Jooheon - Hoseok listened attentively, holding the man’s shaking hand as he let all of his conflicting emotions flow out, Punch and -- to Changkyun’s surprise -- Houndour found their way under his arms to comfort him. Changkyun gave the pups a rub behind the ears.  _ They sure learned to get along in a short amount of time… _ The Trainer fondly pondered if Hoseok had anything to do with that. 

Changkyun used this brief lift in his mood to thank his friend for taking such great care of the pups, “Not a problem!” Hoseok shyly smiled, reaching into his pocket to pull out the Pokéball holder so he could return it to his rightful owner, “Houndour’s a real sweetheart, the goodest boy-” Punch barked for attention, “I was going to get to you, wait your turn!” Hoseok stuck his tongue out at the golden pup - she happily returned the gesture. The cute exchange brought a giggle from Changkyun,  _ I… feel a bit better already.  _

“I’m sorry you had to go through all that,” Hoseok frowned, “You’re really strong, you know that?”   


_ Only when you’re here, though…  _

“But I don’t think you should have any regrets about those two.” Hoseok said. Changkyun could practically hear a record scratch as his mind caught up to what he just said.

He recoiled at his friend’s statement, “What do you mean?” 

Hoseok frowned, “You know…” He said, scratching at the back of his head in thought. Changkyun shook his slowly; Hoseok sighed and did his best to articulate himself, “Don’t you think it’s just… odd? That Minhyuk guy ogling over Punch, trying to get you two to join whatever the hell program he was advertising… amidst a massive Pokémon abduction? I don’t believe in coincidences, Kyun…” 

Everything Hoseok was saying made sense, of course it did… But the nagging feeling in the back of his mind kept telling him that they were  _ good _ , “But they were distraught over the abductions! Minhyuk’s Castform is tied to his emotions, we both saw how he changed so suddenly… he was genuinely upset.” Changkyun said, trying to get his point of view across. 

Hoseok’s gaze seemed to soften… Changkyun knows this look, it’s the same one his mother would give him when he came home after another bad day at school…  _ pity _ , “Kyunnie… you’re an optimistic person that loves to see the good in everything -- and I think that’s one of your best qualities! -- but have you thought that maybe they were acting? Pretending to be shocked to avoid suspicion?” Hoseok reached out to soothe the younger man, but Changkyun stood from his seat - Hoseok’s hand stopped where it was before he withdrew it with a frown.

“I understand where you’re coming from, but every ounce of me is  _ screaming _ that they’re innocent.” Changkyun firmly stated. Hoseok furrowed his brows with a frustrated huff. 

“But all the evidence is pointing to them, it all adds up a bit  _ too _ well.” Hoseok sounded irritated now, but Changkyun was too on-edge about the situation to back down.

“Fuck the evidence.” Changkun grit through his teeth, “At the end of the day I still have to live with myself, and right now I feel like it was a mistake to say anything! I trust my instincts.”

“You can’t trust someone you just met, Changkyun!” Hoseok yelled. 

Something in Changkyun snapped, he could feel his metaphorical power switch flip off as Hoseok’s words seeped in. The man in question brought this hand up to his mouth as if that would somehow return the words from where they came. Changkyun could feel a tear born of vexation slip down his face. 

Changkyun stared Hoseok directly in his eyes, “I guess you’re right.” The bitter words dripped from his mouth with little care for how they’d be received by the older - he was too furious and confused to care about anything right now. Hoseok sat there without saying a word, Changkyun knew that this conversation was over. The Trainer huffed a sigh before turning around and walking in the opposite direction. He didn’t need the stress of a crumbling friendship in addition to the crushing weight of this abduction mess… Changkyun needed to clear his head, maybe scream a little. 

_ Yeah… I’ll do that, like the good ‘ol days…  _

**……….**

_ Wait… Come back… where are you going? _

Hoseok’s throat felt tight and uncomfortable, like someone was stepping on it, trying hard to cease his breathing. He took a step forward, he tried to reach out, but nothing could force the words he so desperately wanted to scream out past his lips. 

He took another step closer and Punch decided that was  _ too _ close for her liking - the golden pup turned around and snarled the most vicious growl Hoseok had ever heard; it stopped him dead in his tracks. 

_ I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to yell! _

Hoseok stood in disbelief as he watched Changkyun’s silhouette fade into the horizon, he wasn’t sure what stung more, the fact that Changkyun left, or the fact that he didn’t look back even once. Hoseok hadn’t realized he’d been standing there, looking at an empty street, until Buneary was up on his shoulder, pulling at his hair to get his attention. How pitiful he must have looked to the little Pokémon.

She nuzzled into his neck to comfort him the best she could. Hoseok appreciated the gesture, but he still felt so… hollow. He shakily ran a hand through her short coat and shuddered out a breath he had been holding for far too long. 

_ Please come back. _

“What have I done, Bun?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, no, I hate me too. Yeah, it’s okay, I totally get it. We’ve reached the middle of our journey folks! In the words of a wise man: “Ya gotta buckle up if you don’t wanna die” :)
> 
> Leave a comment and a kudos if you feel so inclined~ 
> 
> Additional Notes:
> 
> -The stuff from Hoseok’s past, specifically Operation Brighton, is quite literally the final arc of the SoA game, I did my best to explain that from the pov of baby Hoseok but uhhhh yeah that’s essentially the gist of it


	7. Lost

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s one thing after another for Changkyun, how much more can he take before he falls apart completely?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A chapter… one week early!? It’s more likely than you think ;) 
> 
> Trigger warnings for this chapter:
> 
> tw: depictions of blood and violence

When we last left off, our heroes had found themselves at an impasse.

A disagreement in their own kinds of rational have left has led to a clash they that neither man anticipated. A wave of change rocked them both to their cores and left them scrambling to find the pieces they dropped while walking away from each other. 

Conflict was an obstacle they never wanted, and now it’s their grim reality. How will our heroes face these trials and fall back into step with each other… if they can at all.

**……….**

_ Not all those that wander are lost _ … or so the saying goes, but Changkyun was feeling pretty lost right now. Geographically speaking, he knows where he is - the sign reading: Welcome to Chroma Highlands, told him as much, but that sign only filled him with a bitter sorrow. 

_ This is where Hoseok and I were heading… _ He thought, sniffing back another tear accompanied by  _ another _ worried glance from Punch and Houndour. It felt  _ wrong _ venturing this far without the other man, but if he learned anything from his endless hours of walking, it’s that he probably didn’t deserve to stand before Hoseok after what he said to him. 

_ Look at me, finally finding a friend… and that’s how I treat him? _ Changkyun begins to wonder if  _ he _ was the reason he’s been alone all these years. The very thought brings him to a halt as he forces himself to ponder his very existence; his knees feel weak. Changkyun sat himself in the dirt, tucked beneath one of the many looming ledges that made up the Highlands, he let his back hit the rock wall behind him as he let another sob rip from his throat. All the young man could do was tremble as he replayed their argument over and over and over and over and over and- 

Punch whimpered as she rapped at his chest with light punches, it was enough to anchor Changkyun back to reality. He held his golden pup close and wept into her soft fur, it was then he could feel a light tapping at his shoe, Houndour was looking up at him with a face that one could only describe as bashful, like he was asking if it was okay to join in on whatever feelings fest the human was partaking in. Changkyun pulled the black and red pup onto his lap and held him just as close. 

“So much for first impressions, huh?” Changkyun dryly chuckled, “I’m sorry you had to see all that… you don’t have to stay if you don’t want to.” Houndour only licked his chin and nuzzled into his chest. Changkyun’s lip wobbles as he forces back another round of sobs that wanted to come pouring forth,  _ no, time to be strong and figure out how to fix this! _ He wasn’t going to allow all the walls he’s so used to throwing up when things don’t go his way get in the way of what he’s trying to build here in Almia… with Hoseok - but if Changkyun had to be honest with himself, he never realized how defensive he could be until he saw the smile plummet off of Hoseok’s face. 

He had to apologize, he knew that for sure, but he also didn’t want to face anymore doubt from Hoseok. It hurt to, essentially, be told you’re wrong when your heart is screaming that you’re right, but he  _ knows _ Hoseok isn’t completely wrong with his way of thinking either. Where Changkyun was instinct-based, Hoseok was logic-based - in that respect, they completed each other; Changkyun knows he had no right to blow up at the other for his different way of viewing this tragic occurrence. 

Changkyun’s need to apologize, he knows that. But what if Hoseok’s logic-based reasoning told him that Changkyun wasn’t worth the trouble - what if he was just going to be all alone again? 

That was enough to push him over the edge, the tears he had been trying so desperately to keep at bay spilled over in a cacophony of ugly sobs. Punch howls as she tries to get her partner’s attention back on her, but Changkyun is too lost in his own head to notice - he feels numb and exhausted. Punch couldn’t sit by and see him hurt, so she hopped out of his lap and nosed at the Pokéballs on his belt, manually ejecting Shinx and Nuzleaf from their rest. The two Pokémon look at Punch with a confused expression (seeing as they had been kindly asked to not come out on their own anymore), then they notice the pained cries coming from their partner and they both know what they need to do. Shinx and Nuzleaf briefly greet the Houndour trying his hardest to calm their partner before they jumped on the man with wide open hugs and sounds of love that have become so distinct to their recipient. 

The extra weight on his person yanked Changkyun out of his pity party, he held onto all four Pokémon like his life depended on it. 

He isn’t alone. He never really was. 

**……….**

_ Not all those that wander are lost _ … Well, Hoseok wishes he could  _ wander _ off this weathered dock and get  _ lost _ in the vast ocean! The more he looked back on his argument with Changkyun, the more he hated himself! Hoseok kicked his feet at the water below him and analyzed each second of the exchange until his head hurt, and the conclusion he reached was that he is a massive fucking  _ dumbass _ . 

_ I was too harsh with him… I didn’t hear him out… I didn’t even give him the benefit of the doubt.  _ Hoseok punctuated each thought with a harsher kick to the water until he accidentally splashed himself with the crash. He couldn’t even pity himself without making a mess - Hoseok let the water running down his face mask the hot stream of tears pouring from his eyes.  _ I miss him.  _

Hoseok thinks back to the  _ “happier times” _ , which was redundant considering they’ve only known each other for a month, give or take. Today was one of them, it had started off so good too, not only had Changkyun went along with his childish endeavours, he enhanced the experience ten fold! Hoseok never knew he could feel so safe and secure on an extra small carousel, but he’s pretty sure it had everything to do with the protective arm wrapped around him. And when he opened up about the forest? He’s been surrounded by friends his whole life, but he had never felt so understood by someone… before… 

_ Oh… Oh Arceus…  _

Changkyun’s never had that… Hoseok was all he had in terms of friends. Not only did he completely disregard that - he unconsciously became the thing that tormented Changkyun’s early years, and for what? To prove a point?  _ I’m not just a dumbass, I’m an asshole.  _

Hoseok flopped himself flat on the dock, he looked up the sky expecting to see a few puffy clouds, hoping they’d offer some sort of distraction from the raging regrets swirling in his mind, but all he was met with was a clear blue sky that provided a perfect blank space to visualize the heart-lurching expression of hurt that contorted Changkyun’s innocent face. Hoseok could feel a warm fuzz dab at his cheek, he didn’t have the will to turn his head to look at his little Buneary, but he knew she was worried - he didn’t feel like he deserved that, he didn’t want to disappoint another friend. 

_ “You can’t trust someone you just met, Changkyun!” _

_ “I guess you’re right.” _

No amount of physical pain he experienced while lugging upwards to forty pounds of milk across a three mile radius of land could  _ ever _ compare to the twist he felt in his gut after Changkyun delivered those words. He can’t even blame him, not with the way Hoseok had acted… he basically proved Changkyun’s point for him with how shitty he treated him during a brief moment of irritation. What was he even irritated about again? 

That Changkyun was trusting a pair of suspects? Maybe, but the more he dug around his head for a better answer, the more that sounded like a grand excuse. Hoseok was distressed about the situation, and he just watched Changkyun have a breakdown over an experience that  _ involved _ those two; Hoseok couldn’t understand why the younger man was so insistent on covering their asses. 

_ His instincts _ … Hoseok scoffed to himself, moreso  _ at  _ himself, because when have Changkyun’s instincts ever failed them? Changkyun has proved time and time again how his apparent sixth sense could navigate them out of tough situations; his way of thinking directly challenged all the red flags that would pop up in Hoseok’s mind… Maybe he was just scared for him. Scared that this whole  _ trusting Minhyuk thing _ would land the young man in deep water, all while he was still learning how to swim, too… 

But that worry wasn’t an excuse for him to blow up the way he did. 

He owed Changkyun a thousand apologies for the bullshit he put him through, hell, Hoseok would apologize everyday for the rest of his  _ life _ if it meant he could see Changkyun’s smile right now. Which ultimately raised the question: Would Changkyun even want to see him again? He said it himself, even… He doesn’t feel like he could trust Hoseok, why else would he walk away the way he did? 

Hoseok sat up and wiped the tears and snot from his face. Even if Changkyun doesn’t want to associate himself with Hoseok ever again, he knows the kindest man he’s ever had the honor of knowing deserves a proper apology. 

And after that, he’ll go home. Hoseok pat Buneary on the head, she held on tightly to his hand when he went to pull away. He chuckled sadly at his adorable Pokémon, at least he won’t be alone when he goes back.

**……….**

Even when so far apart, our heroes still find a way to be on the same page… somewhat. There’s still much they need to work out, but their diverging path seems to be leading them back to each other. Slowly, but surely.

But our heroes aren’t the only ones experiencing their trials and tribulations. Let’s check in on how Minhyuk and Jooheon are handling their current situation. 

**……….**

This sucked.

This old, ratty building sucked. 

The splinters in his ass from this disgusting wooden chair sucked.

And these drab and ugly clothes  _ definitely _ sucked!

Minhyuk wanted to curl back up in his cushy hotel bed and pretend none of this sucky  _ bullshit _ was happening!

“Oh would you  _ stop _ complaining!” Jooheon groaned, sorting through all the notes he’s spent hours writing. If the two wanted to turn themselves in, they may as well have their facts and stories straight, and Jooheon being Jooheon placed himself in charge of cataloging their time at SHINee.

“I didn’t say anything!”

“The face journey you’re going on is loud.”

“You’re not even looking at me!” 

“I’ve known you long enough.”

Minhyuk blew a stray hair out of his face and leaned back in his uncomfortable chair. Sure, it was Minhyuk’s idea to ditch the hotel SHINee had been fronting the charge for so they could plan their next move in secret from whoever wanted to unexpectedly stop by. And, yeah, it meant having to abandon his favorite suits since,  _ apparently _ , Rangers only know him by his  _ “flashy style” _ . It was a hefty price to pay for moving around freely, but Arceus, was it a horrible toll. He leaned back in his chair and stared up at Castform and Combee playing a cute game of tag in the space above them.  _ Oh yeah… they’re looking for Casty too… _ Minhyuk was putting all his loved ones through the wringer, and that didn’t settle well with him at all. 

“I’m just feeling antsy, and the lingering smell of oil is doing the opposite of soothing me.” Minhyuk sighed, fiddling with his fingers like an impatient toddler. Jooheon set his pencil down and replaced it with Minhyuk’s fidgeting hands. 

“Damn the world for having an abandoned oil shack be the only source of refuge available.” Jooheon chuckled, trying to lighten the mood a bit, it worked. Then again, all Jooheon had to do was smile to lift Minhyuk’s mood, Castform floating overhead in his signature Sunny Form was testament to that. 

“Damn it to hell,” Minhyuk sighed, “What you got so far?” He asked. Jooheon slid the paper across the dusty table for Minhyuk to read. It was basically a timeline of their time at SHINee, how long they’ve been there, what they did, where they’ve been, in addition the company’s hierarchy and multi-regional layout. All of it in excruciating detail. He expected no less from his detail-oriented friend, but to pump so much information out in such a short amount of time was impressive. Too impressive… “How are you holding up? You usually don’t hyperfocus on things unless you’re stressed beyond belief.”

“Guilty as charged…” Jooheon frowned, “It’s just… the more I think about it, the more… obvious everything looks. I feel like an idiot for not noticing sooner.”

Minhyuk could sympathize, he practically stole the words right out of his mouth, but Minhyuk didn’t have to vocalize that for Jooheon to know how he was feeling - so he just gripped the younger man’s hand tighter, as if that would transfer all the energy he needed to get him through the rest of this day. 

“If you’re an idiot, then I’m an entire court jester.” Minhyuk said with enough seriousness to make the younger man chuckle. “But they did make fools of us, that much is certain… we can’t keep beating ourselves up over this, we just gotta make it right.” Minhyuk’s words were spoken with false confidence - both men knew, but the strong facade he was putting up was enough to make Jooheon’s hands stop trembling, but the gaze he held was serious, eyes red and puffy. 

“What if we can’t make it right?” 

It was a previously unspoken fear between them. What if the information wasn’t enough? What if the problem they faced was so large they couldn’t do anything about it? What if they failed before they could even  _ do _ right?

The many  _ what if’s _ are daunting, it’s what scared them the most. But they’ve been scared lots of times before, the only thing that’s ever been able to get them through those days has always been each other. It’s that small flame of hope that keeps Minhyuk grounded and Jooheon sane. 

A shrill sob cut through the air of calm the two created for each other, startling them both out of their seat, and, in Jooheon’s case, flat on the ground after falling out of his. One more cry broke the stunned silence,  _ def coming from outside…  _ Minhyuk darted to the blacked-out window and peeked through the curtain to scan their surroundings. The fortunate thing about this oil shack is that it sat high enough to overlook a good portion of Chroma Highlands, but since the geography of the area was filled with many drops and levels, it made it significantly more difficult to tell if anyone was hiding. And since he couldn’t see the source of the disembodied crying, Minhyuk could safely assume they were hiding, then again… he doubts anyone looking for them would have loud-as-all-fuck crying session while staking them out. 

Minhyuk knit his brows together and frowned, “I don’t see anyone… but I think there’s a lost child out there…” 

“How can you tell it's a kid and not a Pokémon?” Jooheon incredulously asked, rubbing his sore butt with a pout. Oh, how Minhyuk wanted to baby the younger right now. 

“I’ve never heard a Pokémon cry reach decibels that piercing before…” Minhyuk said, slipping his coat before cracking the front door to the shack open.

“Where are you going?!” Jooheon hissed, rushing to pull the man back inside. 

“To see if the kid is okay?” Minhyuk blinked. Jooheon sighed and released his grip on Minhyuk’s sleeve - Jooheon knows he can’t argue with Minhyuk when he’s already has his course set. 

“Just be careful… you’re wanted you know!” 

Minhyuk cooed at his friend, there’s a million different jokes he could make about that, “Oh please, I hardly recognize  _ myself _ in these rags.” He grinned, throwing the door open and stepping foot in the vast expanse of the Highlands and followed the sound of the now muffled sobs. He didn’t have to walk far to see tufts of black hair poking up from behind one of the low drops. 

“Hey there little guy…” Minhyuk said with a calming timbre, “Are you okay- oh damn.” Minhyuk’s eyes widened as he peeked around the corner to see not a young, lost child… but a young adult man covered in Pokémon. The young man craned his neck up to get a look at the person who approached him - both of their jaws dropped the second they got a good look at each other.

“CHANGKYUN!?”

“MINHYUK?!” 

“SHHHH, NOT SO LOUD!” The older man crouched low, but the closer he got to the young man, the clearer he could see how raw his eyes were from crying, “Are you okay?” A dumb question, he realized a beat too late. 

Changkyun looked him up and down before shaking his head solemnly as he hiccuped out another sob. Minhyuk put his hands on his shoulders to help soothe him, Changkyun weakly grasped at his wrists and looked at him with almost pleading eyes. Minhyuk was taken aback, the man’s face was tight with seriousness, but the tears and snot masking his face displayed hurt so deep that even Minhyuk could feel it. 

“You didn’t do it, right? Minhyuk… you’re innocent, right?” 

Minhyuk could feel his heart fall to his feet with the boy’s words, his urgency. He didn’t have to ask what Changkyun meant asking such a vague question, because he  _ knew _ , and somehow this boy did too. Minhyuk’s hands trembled as he held Changkyun’s gaze, he tried his best to blink back his tears, but they came falling from his eyes as he found his words.

“I didn’t know… we didn’t know.” Minhyuk answered, words coming out breathy and lost as he struggled to keep himself together. A sob wracked Changkyun’s body as he sat up and wrapped Minhyuk in a crushing hug. 

“I’m so sorry!” Changkyun wailed, crying into Minhyuk’s dingy shirt. The young Trainer continued to mumble apology after apology, to which Minhyuk was rightfully confused. As much as he wanted to prod at him for an answer as to why he’s sorry, he figured it would be better to get him calmed down first… but maybe not out here in the open… 

“Hey… let’s get you inside, yeah? The sun’s starting to go down and it gets cold at night out here. You okay with that?” Minhyuk soothed. Changkyun nodded as he allowed Minhyuk to help pull him to his feet, his Pokémon following at his heels. Minhyuk smiled softly at how much Changkyun’s Pokémon friends cared for their partner, but his heart squeezed once his eyes landed on the golden Poochyena, Punch, the main reason they’re in this mess to begin with. Minhyuk wishes he would have known better… realized sooner… Minhyuk looked into those true-blue eyes of the Shiny and felt nothing but the sting of white, hot guilt invading his veins.

Jooheon’s eyes widened almost comically as Minhyuk led the weeping boy and his mini train of Pokémon into their ramshackle little hideout. Minhyuk gave him a look that screamed  _ not now _ and Jooheon was obligated to zip his lips and wait for him to explain. Changkyun sat down in one of the rickety chairs with a distant void swirling in his eyes. His Nuzleaf climbed onto his lap and helped pull the struggling Houndour up, Punch and Shinx leapt up with them, undoing the efforts Nuzleaf had put in by sending them all falling to the side - Changkyun swung an arm out to catch them before they had the chance to worry about it. Minhyuk silently awed at the Trainer’s quick reflexes and obvious love both parties have for each other. 

That made the guilt bubble to an unbearable level. 

“The Rangers are looking for you.” The young Trainer said after a few sniffs. Jooheon gaped like a Magikarp at Changkyun’s sudden statement. 

“How did you-” 

“The Pueltown Gym Leader had his Shiny taken from him, and since I was one of the last people to battle him, they brought me in for questioning…” He explained, voice barely above a whisper. There seemed to be more haunting the boy, he was too easy to read. 

“We know about the Rangers…” Minhyuk frowned, “we’ve kinda been hiding out here from them  _ and  _ SHINee.” The shame of admitting they were part of such a heinous group still rocked him to his core, he thinks that’ll stick with him for many years to come. 

Changkyun’s lip warbled at the older man’s confession. Minhyuk pulled out his little white handkerchief and wiped the stray tears rolling down the young man’s face, “So you guys really had nothing to do with the abductions?” His words were shaking, searching desperately for reassurance. 

Jooheon took a seat across from the two and sighed, exhausted, “We didn’t know what was going on until a few days ago,” Jooheon’s jaw was clenched tight in a mixture of anger and remorse, “It’s so much more than stealing Pokémon, kid. We were just their dumb pawns-”

“Jooheon…” Minhyuk pleaded, he couldn’t stand to hear his dear friend put himself down anymore, but Jooheon didn’t correct himself. 

“We were their dumb pawns. We didn’t question anything when things didn’t add up, we never asked questions when things felt wrong.” Jooheon’s words had a certain edge to them, but the bags under his eyes softened the fury in his voice, “That’s why we’re going to make this right.”

Another sob broke the tension in the room as Changkyun listened to Jooheon’s resolve, “I’m sorry.” He mumbled again, burrowing his face into his dear Poochyena 

Minhyuk gently pinched the boy’s cheeks between his fingers and made him meet his eyes, “Why do you keep apologizing? If anything, we owe  _ you _ one. You have your own Shiny, you must have been scared out of your mind when you heard about the abductions.” Minhyuk’s heart dropped at how lost Changkyun looked, a stark contrast from the passionate Trainer he saw in Vientown. Minhyuk dropped his hand as Changkyun started to speak, he shook lightly in his seat, unable to meet his nor Jooheon’s eyes. 

“When I was brought in for questioning, it was because I was a possible suspect… I didn’t do it. But they brought you up, Minhyuk, and- I didn’t think you or Jooheon were responsible, but, but… I still opened my stupid mouth.” Changkyun hiccuped, sobs rumbling his small frame, “I told them about you guys, I- I’m so sorry!” He apologetically bowed the best he could with his Pokémon in his lap. 

Minhyuk and Jooheon exchanged a look with each other and back again at the tearful Trainer. That was certainly a load of information, but it wasn’t anything surprising. Okay, maybe it was surprising that Changkyun of all people had gotten roped into the madness, but them being prime suspects? Not so much. 

“Geez kid,” Jooheon chuckled, jolting the Trainer from his apology parade, “with the amount of sorrys you were throwing at us I thought you, I don’t know, burned all our clothes.” That drew a chuckle from Minhyuk, Arceus, he misses his suits… 

“I- You’re not upset?” Changkyun sniffled.

Jooheon shrugged, “It is was it is. We’ve kinda known about them looking for us for a couple days now…” He admitted. Changkyun frowned, but the tension in his shoulders noticeably decreased momentarily before a whole other emotion Minhyuk couldn’t pin contorted his face. There was a lot more plaguing his mind, but Minhyuk wasn’t one to pry… at inappropriate times. 

“I’m sorry you had to go through all that.” Minhyuk clutched the handkerchief tightly, it was the same one he lent to the younger when he had his face nearly caved in by a projectile Seedot, the same one the boy carefully washed and returned when he didn’t need to. Changkyun is too kind a person to have to experience all…  _ this.  _ That goes for Jooheon as well - Minhyuk will reevaluate himself at a later date. 

“I’m sorry you two had to go through all this, too.” 

Now it was Minhyuk’s turn to sniffle, “Thank you, Changkyun-”

A harsh knock rapped out the door causing all three men to jump in surprise. 

“Were you expecting anyone?” Jooheon anxiously quipped, moving from his seat to the side window and peeked out, Minhyuk and Changkyun held their breath, though, Minhyuk wasn’t sure why Changkyun would be on edge… Maybe that’s just his natural state of being? Jooheon slid down the wall and looked at Minhyuk with terrified eyes as he mouthed, “It’s Mark!”

Minhyuk nearly fell out of his seat as another series of knocks hit the door, “Min! Joo! Open up, I know you’re in there!”

The two runaways scrambled to their feet in an unrivaled flurry of panic. 

“How did he find us?” 

“I don’t know!”

What do we do?!”

“I don’t  _ know _ !” 

They knew their whisper battle couldn’t go on forever, they had a choice to make, but first-

“Put your Pokémon away and hide in the closet. Now!” Minhyuk instructed the frightened Trainer. Changkyun nodded and returned three of four to their balls, and graciously explained to the peculiar Houndour what a Pokéball was… which was incredibly endearing, but Minhyuk could coo over that later. Once the Trainer was safely concealed from view, Minhyuk gave the go-ahead for Jooheon to answer the door - and with a shaky, unsure hand, he did. 

“Mark!” Jooheon greeted, “What brings you to our…”

“Humble abode…” Minhyuk supplied with a crinkle of his nose. Time to act like nothing was wrong again. Arceus knows he deserves an award for how convincing the fake smiles and laughter he was currently forcing out of his mouth were. 

Mark looked between the two men with a suspicious squint, “I don’t even wanna  _ know _ what took you guys so long to answer the door…” the brat gagged, making himself as close as comfortable as he could get at the rickety table, “Why you guys out here anyway?”

“Well, we kinda have the Rangers on our tails.” Jooheon huffed his usual huff, it seemed like his mask was up as well, but Minhyuk could tell by the way his friend clenched his fist that he was trying hard to contain his nerves.

“Oh yeah… we heard about that over the scanner… that sucks, sorry fellas.” Mark chuckled, kicking his feet up on the table like he owned the place. Technically no one here owned this place, but it was still rude. 

“The scanner?” Minhyuk questioned.

“Yeah, we got one of those police scanner thingies, comes in real handy when running from the fuzz, ya know?” Well, that was certainly  _ illegal _ . Minhyuk had to remind himself to hold his tongue. 

“No one says  _ the fuzz _ anymore.” Jooheon quipped. 

“They should, sounds cooler. Anyways, we know about your situation, that's why I’m here, boss sent me to check on you.” Mark smiled. 

Minhyuk could feel his hair on the back of his neck stand at the mention of their boss, “Okay, that’s… reasonable. How did you find us, though?” Minhyuk almost stammered. 

“Your phones, dumbass.” Mark rolled his eyes, waving his own phone in the air. The pair’s eyes widened as they each put a hand over their pockets to pat at the offending devices. “Y’all really didn’t know your phones have a tracker in ‘em?”  _ I mean… in hindsight…  _ Maybe they were idiots, “Anyway, we were able to get that Dewgong from the Gym Leader; dude put up one hell of a fight, let me tell ya. Have y’all got that Poochyena yet?” 

_ There it was. The inevitable question…  _

“Not yet…” Jooheon swallowed, a few beads of sweat were rolling down his neck in the light chill of the room. 

“Well, y’all should hurry it up, boss’s boss wants the thing.” 

The boss’s boss. Those words left the equivalent of a scathing burn on their skin. There wasn’t really a lot they knew about him, hell, they didn’t even know his  _ name _ . But what they’ve heard from Taemin, he’s a terrifying and strict man that values results above all else. They never batted an eye at the harsh character description before - what boss doesn’t want their company to succeed? But knowing the horrors that went on behind closed doors shone a whole new light on the man and his ethics.

Neither one of them could play the act anymore. 

“Mark… Just between us, we don’t feel comfortable taking someone’s Pokémon.” Jooheon said carefully. Mark’s expression went blank, unreadable. Neither of them could tell what was going on in the kid’s head, nor did they really want to. 

“That’s disappointing.” Mark huffed, crossing his arms with an eye roll. The world seemed to stop spinning as everything came crashing down around them, “This sucks guys, you have no idea. I was even starting to like working with you.” His words were ominous, bone-chilling, “But the boss did warn me this might be the outcome.” 

Mark gave a high-pitched whistle that bounced off the walls of the empty shack. The duo hadn’t had a chance to process what was happening before the door was kicked in and six or so men came barging in. 

“Wha-!?”

“I can  _ not _ believe you two were  _ this _ dumb, like, I  _ knew _ , but not knowing shit about the company you work for? That’s a level of idiocy for the record books!” Mark smirked as the surrounding men all unleashed a Raticate each - fangs and claws drawn for battle. Minhyuk and Jooheon and take a step closer to each other, fear radiating off the both of them, “Catch and restrain, boys.”

The hoard of Raticate lunged at them with a horrifying chitter. Minhyuk and Jooheon held onto each other with eyes clenched shut as the enemy Pokémon closed in, but they never made contact. Minhyuk cracked an eye open to see the Raticate being blown back by a gust of air, his eyes flickered up to see their beloved Castform and Combee banding together to protect their partners. 

The duo gasped as the Pokémon continued their attacks on their unwanted guests - Minhyuk has traveled with Castform for many years, but this is the first time he’s ever seen his little sunshine engage in  _ any _ kind of battle, he knew the same goes for Combee. He wasn’t sure how long they’d be able to hold up against battle-hardened men and Pokémon, but all he and Jooheon could do was cheer them on; they had a lot more than just themselves to protect right now. 

“Bee, Cast, I have no idea what you just did, but keep doing it!” Jooheon shrieked, ducking to avoid the harsh air slash left behind by a Tail Whip. 

“Buzz buzz!” Combee darted around the room and rapidly pecked at the opposing men -- bringing them to their knees in various degrees of pain -- while Castform shifted into Snowy Form to lay down a sheet of Powdered Snow that froze the Raticate in their tracks. Minhyuk whooped out a cheer for their Pokémon, maybe they could pull this off yet!

“You guys are pathetic!” Mark huffed angrily, stomping his feet like the petulant child he was. “I should’ve just handled this myself,” He grumbled, calling out his Shiny Staravia. Minhyuk felt a dull ache in his heart knowing the horrors that brought this Pokémon to be - the body count behind it… the fear it may have experienced. Minhyuk knew he shouldn’t be feeling empathy for the enemy, but he knew that under different circumstances this Staravia wouldn’t  _ be _ an enemy; and that sent a sorrowful shockwave through his system. 

“Minhyuk!” 

Minhyuk barely registered Jooheon shouting his name until his back hit the wall on the opposite end of the room, Staravia hit him with an Air Slash powerful enough to slice the front of his shirt to pieces. Minhyuk slid painfully down the wall until his butt hit the oil-stained floor beneath him, an airy groan leaving his lips. He brought a hand up to the harsh lines on his chest that were slowly beginning to blossom with thick beads of blood, his mind froze as fear curled in the pit of his stomach. 

Jooheon looked torn between standing his ground and running to his friend’s side, but he wasn’t spared a moment to mull over it before Castform and Combee were blown into his chest, sending the man tumbling back until his head hit the side of the table with a deafening thud. His arms were wrapped protectively around their knocked out Pokémon, but he wasn’t moving. 

In a moment of panic, Minhyuk crawled across the dirty, splinter-laden floor, leaving a trickled trail of blood on his path to his dear friend. Jooheon had an offending gash on the back of his head, Minhyuk placed a timid hand on the wound - his hand was coated in the discomforting warmth of blood. He brought another hand to gently brush at Jooheon’s round cheek, he was breathing, Minkyuk could have cried tears of relief then and there; but fear was a cruel system-override. 

“And to top it all off, y’all are weak as hell. Kind of surprised, actually.” Mark scoffed, “He ain’t dead, is he?” He chuckled. Laughed. An anger unlike any other reached a boiling point inside Minhyuk, the only thing he could do was scream as waterfalls poured down his face. 

Mark stumbled backwards with a surprised yelp. For a second, Minhyuk thought the pure force of his anguish was what moved him, but the thought dissipated as soon as Nuzleaf hopped in front of him. Minhyuk turned his head at a dizzying speed to see the Changkyun in the doorway of the closet, one look at the Trainer and Minhyuk could tell the man’s knees were shaking with fear. 

“T-that is quite enough!” He stammered, coming to stand in front of the wounded pair. Minhyuk wanted to protest, to tell him to run while he still could, but the next series of attacks aimed at Staravia was enough to tell him the Trainer wasn’t going to back down. 

Mark blinked away the shock of the sudden attack and looked up at his new challenger, his eyes widened, “Ah, you’re the Poochyena guy?” 

Changkyun visibly stiffened. 

“Yeah, I know that mug a mile away, though I do gotta admit, it’s hard to recognize you without the big guy.” Mark taunted. Changkyun’s hand closed in a tight fist, “Where is he, by the way? ‘Cause  _ he  _ would be a problem for-”

“He has nothing to do with this, so leave him out of it!” He snapped.

“Oh! So the wimpy pup  _ does _ have some bark to ‘em.” Mark smirked, “That’ll make things a bit more fun! You know what to do, Five.” Staravia let go an ear-splitting caw as it whipped around the small shack. Changkyun tsk’d as he returned Nuzleaf to his ball and called upon his Shinx for help. 

The little blue cub came out sparking up a storm at her opponent, Staravia maneuvered through the sparks and landed a hard wing attack to Shinx’s flank, sending the cub flying in a corkscrew spin. Changkyun lunged to catch his partner and put her right back on her feet, she roared out in thanks as she gave herself a running start towards the table. Shinx hopped up on the distressed wood and used it as a runway to launch herself into the Staravia hovering above, leaving the Flying Type to flap wildly to maintain its stability. 

Staravia squawked in disgruntlement as it began to swipe at the cub with its talons, but Shinx took advantage of the wide space of the table to duck beneath the deadly attack and let loose a contained Spark attack that rattled Staravia.

“Okay. I’m over it!” Mark yelled, “Attack the Trainer, you dumb bird!” 

Everything moved in slow motion for Minhyuk. Staravia shook its head out of the haze the massive voltage left it with and whacked Shinx to the side with a wing. It narrowed its eyes on its target and soared forward with a glowing beak. Changkyun’s eyes widened and Minhyuk knew he had frozen up just like the day his Seedot came hurtling at his face. 

Without even thinking, Minhyuk pulled himself to his feet and rushed to the Trainer’s side. He placed firm hands on the younger man’s back and pushed him to the side with all the strength he still had. Changkyun hit the floor as Staravia closed in, Minhyuk happily took the brunt of the attack, he owed the kid that much. Staravia’s beak grazed his neck, narrowly missing his jugular by a centimeter. The wound itself was shallow but the uncomfortable feeling of blood trickling out of the throbbing wound was enough to bring him to his knees with an agonized whimper. 

“Minhyuk…” Changkyun said in a hushed tone, he crawled over to the injured man, but a harsh pull to his hair brought him to sit upright on his knees - Combee’s previous attack seemed to have worn off on several of the grunts. The enemy held him in place as Mark kneeled in front of him with a satisfied smile twisting his features. 

“You are  _ much _ more trouble than I thought you’d be.” Mark sighed, “You too, Min, that was  _ something _ , but thank Arceus that’s over, right fellas?” The collective of grunts all groaned in pain-tinged acknowledgment. “That’s the spir-”

Mark’s indulgent victory speech was cut off by Changkyun spitting right in his face. The sweet boy that Minhyuk was introduced to weeks prior had started to crumble under the daunting reality he had wandered into. Minhyuk felt solely responsible for the vacant look in his eyes.

Mark huffed a strained laugh, “You piece of shit. Guys?” He snapped his fingers and two men staggered to their feet. Minhyuk watched helplessly as the grunts came over and worked together to pin Changkyun to the floor. The Trainer was kicking and screaming as Mark plucked Changkyun’s Pokéball carrier from his belt.

Mark ran a finger over each ball and examined them closely, “Hmm, from what we’ve gathered… you’ve had the Poochyena for a long while?” Changkyun snarled as Mark came to a stop on a single Pokéball, “So I can assume this worn out ball has the prize?”

“Give that back you piece of shit-” Changkyun’s cries were cut off by a harsh slap to the face by one of his captors, the young man spit blood on the floor as he deliriously looked up at Mark, who crouched in front of the detained man with a self-righteous smirk.

“And Bingo was his name-o.” Mark picked Punch’s ball from the bunch and threw the holder at Changkyun’s seething face. 

“Fuck… you.” 

“Boys, teach this guy some manners, please?” One of the grunts nodded as they slammed Changkyun’s face into the floor with pathetic  _ smack _ , knocking the Trainer out completely. A silent sob shook Minhyuk as he was forced to watch Changkyun fall limp. His Shinx rushed to his side to paw at her partner. She lowered her stance and growled at Mark, but the collection of towering men and Raticate intimidated her into submission. Shinx backed away with a whimper as she elected to focus on her injured partner. 

“Okay fellas, let’s get moving.” Mark yawned as he pocketed the stolen Pokéball. 

“What about Minhyuk and Jooheon?”

“Leave ‘em. We got a high priority parcel now. These traitors ain’t nearly as big of a threat as I thought they’d be, just knock Min out and get moving.” 

“What if they call the cops or something?”

“Oh please, they’re so deep in the shit they’d get locked up on sight.” Mark sneered, “But that ain’t us, so let’s roll.”

Minhyuk was frozen. He wasn’t sure if it’s because of the various cuts and scrapes littering his previously unblemished skin, or the visceral fear that was blaring warning bell after warning bell in his mind. One thing was for certain, though: Minhyuk had never felt as useless as he had at that moment in his entire  _ life. _ There was so much he could have done… maybe he couldn’t have done anything-  _ no, I could’ve paid more attention, moved faster.  _ It’s one more regret added to the ever growing pile he’s sure to carry with him for as long as he’ll live.

Minhyuk took one last look at Jooheon’s unconscious form, and then to Changkyun lying small and broken on the disgusting floor before a kick to the back of the head left him sprawled out across the floor across from Jooheon. His vision grew fuzzy as his eyes strained to focus on the miniscule puddle of blood that was starting to pool from Jooheon’s wound. A sense of regret and anger and sorrow chilled his own blood as his surroundings faded to black. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [silence…] 
> 
> I ended up finishing this chapter a lot earlier than expected (which is funny because I scrapped this chapter 3 times before coming up with the final draft… they all ended the same though, so…), hope you enjoyed your dose of angst and heartbreak! I cried writing it LMAO
> 
> Happy Birthday, Wonho ♥️


	8. Of Seaside Reunions and Pissy Rangers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our heroes finally turn their thoughts into actions.

Pain. Deep shooting pain.

It was the only thing Changkyun’s mind was able to register as consciousness started returning to him. He struggled to force his eyes open, the gunk that formed during his slumber glued his eyelids closed, it was almost painful to open them. 

He could hear the patter of tiny feet near his head, but it hurt too much to turn his head to see; a soft meow told him it was his dear Shinx. Shinx nudged her head against Changkyun’s and licked at a scratch on his forehead to comfort him, he pulled himself up on his elbows with a strangled groan and looked at the floor beneath him. 

Red. A small puddle of blood where his head was previously resting - it made his elbows give out. Changkyun rolled onto his side as everything rushed back to him with the force of a deadly tidal wave. He scanned the floor from where he was pathetically sprawled out and stifled a gasp as his eyes landed on the discarded Pokéball carrier laying in the dust on the old wooden floor - one ball missing. 

A sob ripped through his throat as he curled in on himself. 

_ She’s gone.  _ He mournfully thought. 

_ She’s gone she’s gone she’s gone she’s gone she's gone she's gone she's gone she's gone she's gone she's gone she's gone she's gone she's gone she's gone she's gone she's gone she's gone she's gone she's gone she's gone she's gone she's gone she's gone she's- _

The sound of unhinged screaming echoed off the abandoned walls of the oil shack. Shinx took a startled step back with tears in her little yellow eyes as her partner fell apart in front of her. She nuzzled her head into his chest, but nothing could pull him out of the pain he felt from losing one of his own.

Changkyun couldn’t feel the warmth of Shinx nor the shaky hands guiding him to lay on his back, he couldn’t feel the same soothing hands gently hold his face and assess his wounds, nor could he hear the soft words being whispered to him; but his body could. Slowly but surely Changkyun started to come down from his break. 

The fog around his field of vision lifted and his eyes focused on the one trying so hard to comfort him - unfortunately, it wasn’t the one person he so desperately wanted to see. Jooheon kneeled over him, concern etched into his own distressed features -- Changkyun could see tracks of dried blood painted along the man’s neck, coming to stop where it was absorbed by his shirt collar -- he hummed a soft tune that Changkyun had to strain his ears to listen to, that effort he put into hearing the gentle song helped distract from the panic that sat heavy on his chest. 

“Jooheon…” Changkyun croaked out, throat worn from abuse he put it through, “They took Punch.” A single tear rolled down his face, the cruel salt spilling into a scratch, leaving a dull sting in its wake. 

_ She’s gone.  _

**……….**

The night lasted far too long for our youngest hero. The weight of his unfortunate reality weighing heavy on him for the few hours he lived after regaining consciousness, and ultimately, recollection of his new darkest moment. 

With his dear Pokémon gone and his dearest friend nowhere near, how will young Changkyun handle the volatile emotions that crashed against his mind like a merciless tidal wave. 

**……….**

The concerned ramblings of the two men around him felt about a mile away as Changkyun struggled to keep himself tethered to reality; his little Shinx curled up in his lap, licking tentatively at the light scratches on his open palms.

Minhyuk woke up from his unfortunate nap not long after he did, his screams of anguish serving as a near perfect alarm clock. Both men looked much worse for wear than Changkyun did, and for a second, he felt bad for crying his eyes out in the corner when they bared such arceusawful wounds. He decided to push the bitter sorrow that has taken his heart hostage aside and see where he could help - Jooheon offered a thankful nod when Changkyun crawled over and handed the man a fresh wet wipe to clean up the thick, irritated cuts on Minhyuk’s chests left behind by their foes. It was as good as they could do right now, neither man seemed to have the foresight to bring a first aid kit and Minhyuk was vocalizing that foolish decision very loudly. 

“Are you sure this is safe? Can you put lemon-scented on bloody-crusty!?” Minhyuk hissed, doing everything in his power to dodge Jooheon attempts at disinfecting his chest.

“I don’t know, Min? Would you rather have a mild lemon scent or an infection so bad your nipple falls off?” Jooheon retorted, swiping the wipe gently over the wound. 

“CAN THAT HAPPEN?!” 

“Stop shouting! I think I have a concussion!” 

“Sorry.  _ Can that happen!?” _ He asked again, a lot quieter this time. Jooheon chuckled as he tended to his friend, the other man allowed him to poke at the sizable cuts with less complaint, but he was still determined to make over exaggerated facial expressions every time the stinging solution grazed his skin. 

Changkyun didn’t say much during the… amusing… exchange, it was a refreshing change of pace from his current state of pity and self-loathing. It reminded him of the quips he and Hoseok would throw back and forth. 

_ Arceus… I miss him… _

“You alright, kid?” Minhyuk placed a hand on Changkyun’s knee to get his attention. Changkuyn blinked back a few tears before properly looking at Minhyuk.

The Trainer shook his head, “Not at all,” He bitterly laughed, “I miss them.” 

“Them?” 

“Punch… Hoseok.” Changkyun voice wavered, “Everything came crashing to the ground in a matter of hours and it feels like it’s all my fault and I-” 

Minhyuk lightly slapping his knee cut him off, Changkyun eyes widened in surprise, “Enough of that pity party bullshit,” He scolded. Changkyun pressed his lips together in a straight line on reflex, “Now I don’t know what happened between you and Hoseok -- and while I’m hella curious, I simply will not ask -- but what happened here is no one’s fault but mine.” Jooheon looked like he wanted to speak up too, but Minhyuk wouldn’t let him. “Do not get me started, Honey, this is an argument you won’t win!” Jooheon’s lips pressed into a very similar line, “So don’t beat yourself up, Changkyun. Those brutes did that enough for y- OW, that stings!” 

Something about Minhyuk’s words put Changkyun’s troubled heart at ease, just a little bit. A small smile bloomed on his face as he played nurse assistant to a medically unskilled Jooheon. Castform and Combee were back up and moving around now, though most of the moving they were doing was fretting about their partners. Castform settled beside Minhyuk’s head, shifting into cloudy gray color of his Standard Form, while Combee buzzed beside Jooheon’s shoulder (trying very hard to lend her assistance). All Changkyun had to do was look down to see Shinx curled up beside his folded legs, worlds more content than she was minutes ago - Changkyun briefly wonders if she knows Punch is gone, the sad mewls she makes every once and awhile makes him think she does.

“So, what’s our next move?” Jooheon asked, haphazardly blotting tissue paper along his own congealed wound; Changkyun winced just from the sight of it, he couldn’t imagine how the man was doing as much as he was with an injury like that. 

“I think it’s time we take this to the Rangers.” Minhyuk sighed from his place on the floor, worn out from the exertion he put forth trying to scuttle away from Jooheon and his  _ “healing” _ hands. Jooheon hummed in agreement as he stood to his feet with an ungraceful wobble and made his way to the closet that Changkyun had hid himself away in the previous evening. He rummaged around in the very back of the closet and pulled out a small brown box with a resilient smile on his face. 

“None of those chuckleheads bothered to check the building, hell, the timeline’s still on the table… Why are there pawprints on it?” Shinx let out an apologetic meow and Joohoen couldn’t help but coo, “If you’re ready to get up we can go now?” Jooheon said, though the concern for his currently immoble friend’s comfort and wellbeing was very much evident. 

“Yeah, I’m ready.” Minhyuk said, not making an effort to move.

“Can you move?” 

“I am moving.” 

Jooheon rolled his eyes as he gestured for Changkyun to give him a hand pulling Minhyuk to his feet. With a few pained groans and a helpful push from Castform and Combee, Minhyuk was up and moving like the rest of them. 

“Was that so hard?” Jooheon teased, poking the other man in the shoulder. 

“Very. That was the most work I’ve ever done in my entire life.”

Jooheon rolled his eyes and tossed Minhyuk his coat, “You’ll live. Changkyun, you ready?” Changkyun pecked Shinx on her little blue head before returning her to her ball and placed it back on the carrier, his thumb brushed the empty space that Punch’s ball used to reside in and fought back the urge to scream again…  _ I’ll get her back…  _ He told himself over and over, maybe if he says it enough he’ll start to feel better. 

Changkyun wasn’t expecting the blinding light of the sun to burn his eyes the second he opened the door to the cramped little shack. In his defence, the sun  _ was _ just starting to go down when he entered the building…

“Damn… how long were we out for?” Jooheon gaped, observing as a flock of Altaria flew past the shining sun like fast moving cumulus clouds. He pulled a pair of sunglasses out of his jacket pocket and put them on in the most  _ cool guy _ way Changkyun has ever seen, “Yup, definitely a concussion.” He mumbled to himself. 

Minhyuk peeked at the time on his phone with a yawn, “8:45.” Then threw the device on the ground and dug his heel into the screen, Changkyun yelp in surprise as Jooheon did the same with his, “There.  _ Now _ , we can get moving!” 

“Um…” 

“I almost forgot about the phones,” Jooheon frowned, “In hindsight, we should’ve called a taxi first…”

“Oh arceusdammit!” Minhyuk groaned. Okay, so Changkyun doesn’t think he’ll get much of an answer from those two, he just hopes he doesn’t have to smash his Pokégear - not that he ever uses it. 

“There’s a rest area not far from the Highlands, I’m pretty sure they have payphone.” The Trainer pipped in.

“Excellent!” Minhyuk lilted, scooping the remnants of their phone up and discarding them in the rundown shack to age and further deteriorate with the wooden walls, “To the rest area!” Castform hummed a tune as he floated happily behind his partner, but despite Minhyuk’s cheery disposition, Castform still remained in his Standard Form - a chilling reminder of the matter at hand. 

They sure turned a lot of heads walking into the rest area looking as haggard as they were, damn near gave their taxi driver a heart attack when they squeezed themselves into the backseat of the cab. The poor guy kept looking at them through the rearview to make sure his badly injured occupants were still breathing… or weren’t a bunch of ruffians ready to steal the car, either way… 

It didn’t take long to reach the small harbor town. Changkyun’s been traveling on foot for so long he almost forgot about how efficient cars could be… He guesses he could file that under Trainer Problems. 

After a far too intense game of rock-paper-scissors, Jooheon paid the driver and they went on their way. They weren’t too far away from the Depot, if they could pull right up to the building they would have, but no, it had to be nestled in the middle of a car-free zone, leaving the three men to do a literal walk of shame the rest of the way there, how very lucky they were that the streets weren’t bustiling this time of the morning. 

Changkyun could see the ocean from where they were, the gentle blue waves crashed rhythmically against the gray stone of the harbor, filling the town with its unique song. Changkyun couldn’t help but smile at the fond memories he had of the beautiful sea, specifically Hoseok trying his hardest to teach him how to swim; he got it down pat in two days, he knows he wouldn’t have been able to do it without the intense swimming drills Hoseok put him on. Oh, and there’s the little cafe they’d eat at with the Pokémon after a long day of training… and there’s the fountain Hoseok fell into because Buneary lost her balance and he moved a bit  _ too quick _ to save her, leaving them both drenched… This whole town was filled to the brim with Hoseok, and that realization chipped away his smile little by little. 

“Changkyun?”

_ Arceus, even the breeze sounds like him. _

“CHANGKYUN!”

_ Wait, that sounds too much like Hoseok…  _

Changkyun didn’t have to turn his head much to see Hoseok briskly walking up to him with a fire burning in his eyes.  _ Oh no… _ He looked back at Minhyuk and Jooheon and the wounds they bore… and the massive bruise on his own face… It was too early in the morning for this level of stress. 

Hoseok came to a skidding stop in front of him and took in Changkyun’s worn state, he gulped. Hoseok didn’t look much better, well, there wasn’t a massive blob of discoloration on his face, but he wore heavy bags under his eyes and his hair was sticking up every which way… he also faintly smelled of salt water. Changkyun wonders where he slept last night… if he slept at all.

“What happened…” The question came a lot softer than he thought it would, but then again, Hoseok is the softest person he knows. The warmth his voice radiated enveloped Changkyun in a way he shouldn’t be finding comfort in right now, not with everything he still needs to say… to tell him. It took Changkyun’s breath away, but not in the way he wanted. 

“Punch is gone.” Changkyun said, voice as lifeless as his eyes looked. He couldn’t meet Hoseok’s eyes with the amount of shame he felt, but he could hear the breathless gasp the older man made. 

Hoseok moved towards the two men behind him with, “Did these two have something to do with this?” There was an underlying tone of aggression in his voice that emotionally set Changkyun back a few paces, because  _ Arceus, not this again. _ “Are they the ones that hurt you? Did they-!”

Changkyun decided he had enough of this. He pushed at Hoseok’s chest with as much strength as he could muster, which wasn’t a lot, but anything to put space between him and the men Changkyun knew for a fact now were innocent, “How about you listen to me before jumping to conclusions?” He bit. He didn’t mean for it to come out that harsh, he regretted it immediately when Hoseok flinched back.

“They didn’t do anything to me, if anything, they saved my life.” Changkyun stated, “Things just…” He didn’t know how to explain this at all.

“It was the wrong place wronger time, a huge mistake on our part… we take responsibility for what happened.” Minhyuk bowed apologetically, Jooheon followed suit. 

“Minhyuk-”

“We’re on our way to the Ranger Depot right now to try and make this right, we are sorry for the trouble we’ve caused Changkyun.” Jooheon added. Changkyun could feel a single tear escape the corner of his eye.  _ Why are they apologizing? I’m the one that picked a fight when they told me to hide… _

Hoseok’s expression was uncharacteristically blank, he hadn’t a word to speak on the matter. Changkyun didn’t know if that was a good or bad thing right now, but he was thankful for the silence, it gave him an opportunity to sort out his thoughts and figure out exactly what he wants to say to Hoseok... and to Minhyuk and Jooheon.

The rest of the walk to the Depot was filled with a tension so thick it was tangible and a silence so loud it was deafening. Changkyun looked over his shoulder every once and awhile to see Hoseok following behind them with his head hung low, his pout more prominent than he’s ever seen before. Changkyun just wanted this day to be over already. 

**……….**

Nothing about this was easy. Some might say they’re throwing their lives away. Minhyuk and Jooheon turning themselves into the Rangers for the crimes they unwittingly committed has caused emotional strain so bad, Minhyuk thinks he  _ may _ be graying… if bleach tarnished hair even had the strength to gray anymore.

So let Minhyuk be the first to say that  _ nothing _ about this uptight, eternal-grimace-wearing, half-pint of a Ranger was helping the stress at  _ all _ . If anything, Minhyuk felt mildly irked. 

Said uptight, eternal-grimace-wearing, half-pint of a Ranger was currently sitting across from them at a coffee stained dinner table in a closed off portain of the Pueltown Depot; a very obvious attempt at an interrogation room, minus the intimidation factor - the Pachirisu poking its head out of his dorky cropped Ranger jacket wasn’t helping that either.  _ Arceus, the Ranger uniforms are so tacky. Flared shorts and nylon  _ cropped jackets _? The only thing they have going for them is the red color- _

__ “Minhyuk!” Jooheon punctuated the call with a light whap to the man’s shoulder, forcibly pulling him out of his harsh analysis of the Ranger’s attire. It’s his coping mechanism, okay?

“Yes?” 

“The Ranger asked you a question.” 

“The Ranger has a name.” The Ranger’s eye twitched, just as another Ranger -- a tall, imposing man wearing the same horrid uniform, though he must admit, he makes it work -- entered the room and shut the door behind him with an apologetic bow. The uptight Ranger waved him off with the ghost of a smile on his lips.  _ Interesting _ . 

The Dreamy Ranger joined them at the table and peeked at the file the other had on the table, “Lee Minhyuk?” Minhyuk bowed his head in acknowledgment,  _ this guy is much more intimidating…  _ “Lee Jooheon?” Jooheon nodded. “I am Shownu and this is Kihyun, we will be conducting your questioning today. We understand that you two have turned yourselves in as accomplices to the massive Shiny Pokémon abduction we’ve seen across the Almia Region. Is this correct?” 

“Kind of…” Jooheon trailed off, his hands shaking around the recorder and papers they brought in with them. They were lucky none of Mark’s men did a search of the hideout, Mark didn’t exactly think it through when he thoughtlessly let them go. Minhyuk was going to make sure they did as much damage to them with this as possible, so when he’s moping around his little jail cell with a harmonica in hand, he’ll remember in dismay how much of a  _ dumbass _ he was for underestimating the names Lee Minhyuk and Lee Jooheon. Minhyuk isn’t petty at all. 

“Kind of?” Kihyun echoed, cocky eyebrow raise and all,  _ Arceus, this guy irritates me. _ “How do you just  _ kind of _ commit a crime?” 

“By not knowing jackshit about the company you work for…” Minhyuk grumbled, that uncomfortable feeling of guilt settling back into his stomach. 

Shownu seemed to buffer for a second, he looked to Kihyun who looked just as puzzled as he did, “What kind of idiots don’t know anything about the company they work for?”

“Hi, I’m Lee Minhyuk.”

“And I’m Lee Jooheon.”

Kihyun’s countenance fell blank, a slow series of tired blinks being the only indicator that he was still functioning. He suddenly threw his pen down on the table and leaned back with a frustrated groan, startling Shownu with the action. 

“Kihy-”

“Just perfect, huh? Real damn convenient!”

“Ki-”

“Our only leads and they,  _ apparently _ , don’t know shit!”

Shownu slammed his hand on the table and watched as the smaller Ranger jumped, “Please calm down, Kihyun, it looks like they still have something to say.” A light pink color traveled its way up Kihyun’s neck as he apologized for his outburst. 

_ This SHINee mess must be putting them through the wringer too…  _ Minhyuk rationalized. Now that he was actually looking at the pair, he could see the dark circles under both of their eyes. Him and Jooheon weren’t the only ones losing sleep to  _ this _ , it seems.

Jooheon placed his items on the table with shaky hands and slid them towards the Rangers and explained, “Now… the papers are just our timeline at SHINee… everything we did, the people we work with. I understand if this isn’t exactly helpful, but this,” He pointed at the recorder, “Is the most damning evidence we have.” 

Shownu held the recorder in his hand and inspected it carefully, and with a hesitant nod from Kihyun, he pressed play. Word by word, syllable by syllable, the horrors of company they swore loyalty to filled the room and drained the color from every listener’s face. Shownu’s stoic expression faltered while nausea set into Kihyun’s. Jooheon, who lived the nightmare, was faring worse than the handful of times he listened to it after the fateful day - it’s something that haunted the both of them, but the broken look on Jooheon’s face tore Minhyuk apart from the inside out. He grabbed his friend’s hand and gave it a squeeze. Jooheon looked at him with a bleary gaze and nodded gratefully.

The tape stopped and left behind an uneasy silence in its wake. The life returned to Kihyun’s skin with a new flame of rage burning in his eyes, his body shook with an angry tremor, “So this is what we’ve been dealing with?” His voice was sharpened to a point, “We’ve been dealing with actual  _ monsters _ ?” The tone of his voice sent all three men finching back, only this time, Shownu wasn’t calling him out on his lack of professionalism. If anything, the stoic Ranger was holding himself back from saying something sharp as well. 

Kihyun roughly grabbed the papers from the table and flipped through them in a flurry of anger, “Who’s the bastard on the recording? I want his name!” Kihyun seethed.

“Lee Taemin.” Minhyuk supplied. 

“And the Staravia’s handler?”

“Lee Mark…” 

“Perfect.” Kihyun all but spit. He wrote the names down and allowed himself to take a deep breath, his Pachirisu choosing now to come out of hiding to comfort its partner. Shownu carefully pried the papers from his fellow Ranger’s whiteknuckling grip and read over the neatly written pages. 

“And you’re saying they’re held up in Hia…” Shownu grimaced. 

“Y-yes.” Jooheon supplied, “They have an Almia facility in the mountains of Hia, we were only there for a few days, so we’re not sure about the layout… or exact location… They have branches in multiple other regions too. Sorry if this isn’t enough-.” 

“No… this information, if true, will be helpful to us.” Shownu frowned, flipping to page four of seven. 

Kihyun squinted dangerously at the two men across from him, “But don’t you dare think this gets you off the hoo-”

“We don’t expect it to.” Minhyuk cut off with a frown, “We just wanted to do what’s right.”

“And if  _ right _ means whatever punishment you want to give us, then we accept it without complaint.” Jooheon completed. 

Kihyun looked taken aback by the resolve the two were emanating. His hard glare softened a fraction as he glossed over the papers Shownu had discarded, “How sensitive is the information you’ve provided us with?” 

“As a fresh sunburn.”

Kihyun crinkled his nose at the crass analogy, “What exactly are you risking by disclosing all of this to us?”

“Have you seen that Changkyun kid’s face? That was just for back-talking a low-ranking member.” Minhyuk said, voice gravely as he recalled the smack of his skull to the wooden floor, “I wouldn’t want to imagine what the punishment for treason would entail.” 

“So, everything?”

“Everything.” Minhyuk simply said. Jaw clenched. Hand still firmly holding Jooheon’s. “We just want this to end.” 

Kihyun sighed as he ran his hands down his face, Minhyuk took note of how his shoulders sag with fatigue. He looked much more… human than he did when he walked in here, “Don’t expect a thank you either.”  _ A bratty human at that…  _

Minhyuk chuckled despite himself. He fixed a steeled gaze on Kihyun and watched the man lift an eyebrow, “I don’t expect anything… but I will ask something of you.” Minhyuk said. Jooheon turned to him with a questioning stare.

“You’re in no position to be asking me  _ anything _ , but go on.”

Minhyuk huffed shortly and frowned, “I want to be there when you drag that bastard to justice.”

“That’s a lot-”

“That can be arranged!” Came the booming voice of one badly banged up Gym Leader. The four men all jumped in their seats at the sudden intrusion.  _ So that’s Song Gunhee… When did he even get in here?! _

“WHEN DID YOU EVEN GET IN HERE!?” Kihyun squawked, whipping his whole body around to face their surprise guest. The man in question wore a big grin on his face.

“Sometime around  _ punishment _ .” He smirked, eyebrows doing a little dance. Minhyuk likes him already.

“You’re insufferable.”

“If he wants to come along to whatever grand mission I’m sure y’all are already formulating in those little Ranger noggins of yours, then why not?” Gunhee shrugged.

“You haven’t heard the worst of it, Gun, I’m not gonna just-”

“I don’t need to know the worst of it, Kihyun.” Gunhee groaned, Kihyun wore a look of utter shock. “You can see his eyes as well as I can, he’s sincere  _ and _ determined. You know damn well you can’t stop that, yeah?” 

Kihyun grumbled something incoherent under his breath, before nearly banging his head on the aged table, “You’re in no position to be making demands either, you dropout.” Gunhee only smiled a bright, winner’s smile; and while it didn’t quite reach his eyes, it felt real. 

Shownu sighed and pulled both Kihyun and Gunhee along with him, he turned to the two men sitting at the table, “We’ll think about it. First we have to make a plan…” He paused for a second and bit his lip in thought, “I’ll keep you updated, though.” Then he pulled his squabbling acquaintances (more like the squabbling  _ Kihyun _ and a smug Gunhee) out of the room, “Gun, after this is over, you’re never allowed back in this Depot.”

“You’re no fun, Woo.”

The door shut leaving Minhyuk and Jooheon to stew in the remnants of their “interrogation”. Many questions and  _ what ifs _ still hung in the air, but one thing weighed heavy on Jooheon’s mind.

“What did you mean by that, Min?”

Minhyuk looked down like a puppy being scolded. If he’s being honest, he wasn’t sure  _ where _ that came from. Then he met Jooheon’s glassy, tired eyes and the flecks of dried blood that didn’t quite wash off all the way. Minhyuk recalled his dear Castform and Combee being knocked out of the air and the way Changkyun had to suffer not only physical wounds, but the psychological wounds of having his dear Pokémon taken from. But the only answer he could form was a vague, “Because I have to, Jooheon.”

He felt responsible. For everything. Hell, if Minhyuk never wandered into town that day, bored and looking for fun, maybe he wouldn’t have met Taemin. Maybe he wouldn’t have been swayed by his words of _togetherness_ and _understanding_ _Shinies_ (something he thought was only a myth at the time) and Pokémon in general. Maybe the ideas of traveling and doing _“good”_ wouldn’t have tempted him to the point of dropping everything and leaving home for lands unknown. Maybe he would never have met Jooheon and extended a hand to the boy who looked as lonesome as Minhyuk felt. Maybe they wouldn’t be _here._

But it all happened. And while Minhyuk would never trade Jooheon for the world, he still needed to make sure this path of suffering he unknowingly put them on meets its proper end. 

“You’re dumb, Minhyuk.”

“Maybe…”

**……….**

While our… unlikely heroes were busy being questioned by our Rangers plus one, a much more intimate conversation was taking place no more than twenty feet away, in the safety and not-so-secluded Depot waiting room. 

**……….**

Hoseok twisted and twiddled his thumbs until the muscles in his hand begged him to stop, but the repetitive motion wasn’t enough to distract him from the forlorn Changkyun that was sitting just three seats away from him. 

No one word could perfectly describe how he felt when he saw Changkyun again. Relief at first. He had been separated from the other man all night -- not able to find him when he decided to go looking -- not knowing if he was okay… if he slept well, but relief turned to terror quickly as the unsightly bruise along his forehead and his nose came into view. Then terror turned into anger as he took notice of the company he was with and… Hoseok wasn’t at all proud of how he acted, it just showed him that he hadn’t learned anything. 

Hoseok looked over at Changkyun for the nth time. His head was in his hands the same way he does when he’s lost in thought, a silent sob shook his frame. Those slender hands that pushed him away with such vigor… Hoseok could still feel them on his chest. 

_ He lost Punch…  _ Hoseok reminded himself.  _ And you weren’t there to stop it. If anything, this is on you… pushing him away when he needed you most. Breaking your promise to protect him… _ Hoseok wanted to throw up. He wanted to cry and scream and curse Arceus, because his own foolish behavior is what brought them to this. He’d go as far as to say he deserved the treatment he got when they reunited. 

_ But this isn’t about me right now. _

The realization of his selfish thoughts is what ultimately brought his feet to movement. Hoseok stood from his seat and took up occupancy in the seat next to Changkyun’s. The Trainer didn’t react when the seats shifted and rubbed against each other, nor did he lift his head when Hoseok softly called his name. 

Hoseok’s heart-rate picked up as he called his name once more, but this time accompanied with a gentle hand on his shoulder. Hoseok recoiled as Changkyun flinched back with a breathless yelp at the sudden touch. The harsh bruise that was beginning to turn a jarring shade of purple framed his panic glazed eyes, sweat drenched his collar as he trembled in the seat he was just barely hanging on to. He looked absolutely terrified, and it tore Hoseok apart. 

“Changkyun…” He tried once more, voice hardly audible. Changkyun looked up at him and blinked himself back into reality, he sighed with a shaky breath as his eyes focused on the man beside him. 

“I- Hoseok, I’m…” He trailed off, eyes looking everywhere but at Hoseok’s own. Hoseok didn’t like the uncomfortable lump that settled in his throat when Changkyun hung his head. He needed to apologize… who knows when he’d get another chance. 

He swallowed down the mass of nerves and willed himself to speak, “Changkyun I-” Hoseok’s words caught in his throat when Changkyun finally met his eyes, “I owe you an apology.” He pushed out, his bottom lip was already wobbling, but he begged himself to carry on. 

“Hoseok…” Changkyun furrowed his eyebrows, wincing slightly from the pain. Hoseok reached out to hold his hand before drawing back. Changkyun rolled his eyes in a very Changkyun fashion as he grabbed Hoseok’s hand, brushing his thumb over them to comfort the older.  _ This should be the other way around!  _ He scolded himself. 

“I’m sorry for what I said… and how I said it.” He whispered, unable to make his voice any louder, “I’m sorry I didn’t listen to what you had to say.” Hoseok couldn’t stop the tears from falling anymore, Changkyun wiped at the stray tears that hung on his cheek, “And I’m sorry I couldn’t keep my promise.”

Changkyun’s thumb stilled on his cheek, “Oh, Seok…” He soothed. Hoseok leaned into the touch despite his mind telling him to pull himself together, “Please don’t blame yourself for Punch.” Changkyun whispered back. 

“Stop comforting me, I’m supposed to be comforting  _ you _ .” Hoseok pouted, earning a half-hearted chuckle from the Trainer. 

“If anything, I owe you an apology.” Changkyun sealed Hoseok’s lips shut with his thumb to keep him from interjecting, Hoseok’s eyes crossed on reflex before looking back at Changkyun’s soft brown eyes that were slowly becoming encased in a shimmering layer of tears, “I said a lot of harsh things to you… I’ve never dealt with confrontation well and- Arceus, this sounds like an excuse… I hid behind the walls I always threw up when things didn’t go my way- and… I never wanted to shut you out like that, it was just… habit. Something I _really_ have to work on.” Tears were beginning to fall from his eyes, Hoseok’s breath hitched, “I trust you more than anyone or anything, Hoseok… I’m sorry.”

Changkyun’s thumb slipped away from his mouth with subtle drag and all Hoseok could do was gaze at Changkyun and the delicate smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes, but it still radiated the warmth he’s associated so heavily with the man. 

_ What did I do to deserve someone like you… _ He marveled, a steady stream trickling from the corners of his eyes. 

The Trainer giggled, and Hoseok was mortified to realize he said that aloud. Changkyun pulled Hoseok in for a hug and everything seemed to fall in place for the older man, “Forgive me?” He asked, holding Changkyun close, afraid he’s going to disappear again. 

“Only if you forgive me.” 

“Of course.”

“That is so sweet you two, but for the love of Arceus, this is a  _ public _ waiting room.” Gunhee gagged loudly, making his presence known in the most obnoxious way possible. The pair jumped apart, but neither of them were really ready to let go, so they kind of hung onto each others elbows in a way that would definitely look odd to anyone passing by; though, Hoseok was not about to take shit from a guy being dragged out of a room by the back of his shirt. Shownu hardly looked amused either. 

Kihyun stepped forward to address the two men still clinging to each other, they decided now would be a great time to straighten their posture, “Changkyun… seems like you were… somewhat right about those two…” Kihyun admitted, albeit, reluctantly. “We’re gonna see what we can do with the information they provided, we  _ will _ keep you updated.” He assured. 

Changkyun frowned slightly, Gunhee picked up on the apprehension that was shown clear on his face, “C’mon Kiki, say it better than that! Words like that coming from someone in a uniform always sound fake.”

Kihyun’s eye twitched, “And what do you suppose I say then?” He said through gritted teeth. 

“I dunno? Maybe something like  _ we will stop at nothing until we return your rad-ass Pokémon to you, young man. Worry not, this case is in good- _ OW, EAR. THAT’S MY EAR!” Gunhee shrieked as Shownu reappeared behind him once more and manually shut the Gym Leader up, Kihyun smirked like he just won a battle. Hoseok does  _ not _ want to know the story behind  _ this. _

“We’re going to get your Poochyena back, Changkyun. Almia is the home of Top Rangers, afterall.” Shownu smiled. Changkyun seemed to breathe a bit easier with Shownu’s promise blanketing his concerns, “In the meantime, let’s get you patched up, yeah?” Changkyun nodded and stood from his seat, he looked over his shoulder and frowned when he saw Hoseok wasn’t following. Hoseok’s eyes widened in surprise as Changkyun held a hand out for him to take - Hoseok gladly took it. Maybe, just maybe, he saw a light twinkle in his eyes for a split second. 

“Need someone to hold your hand when they apply the antiseptic?” Hoseok teased.

“I don’t like how it stings!” Changkyun pouted. Hoseok fell into step behind him, allowing the younger to pull them towards their destination. He silently renewed his vow to keep him safe,  _ actually _ safe this time. Hoseok would do anything to make sure that blindly smile never leaves Changkyun’s face again. Make sure his cute laugh never loses its playful lilt. Make sure everything he loves most about Changkyun never becomes dulled by this cruel world ever again.

Everything he loves about Changkyun… 

_ Everything I love about Changkyun… _ Hoseok’s mind came to a staggering halt. 

_ Oh my Arceus… _

**……….**

“Ah to be young and in love.” Gunhee sighed longingly once the two travelers were out of earshot. Kihyun did not look impressed with the Gym Leader’s asinine musings. 

“You’re twenty-four.”

“Old and withering and not a beau in sight.”

Shownu pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed, “Since you are so determined to stick around here, how about you ask Dami to patch up the other two.” He gestured a thumb to their sorry excuse for an interrogation room.

Gunhee pouted, “You’re no fun, Woo. Kiki, tell him to entertain my laments!”

“Pop a stitch.”

“You guys are  _ mean! _ ” Gunhee groaned, spinning on his heel to look for Dami. Shownu and Kihyun shared an exasperated glance before stifling their laughter, they fell into each other like two jigsaw puzzle pieces. It’s the only sense of calm either man has felt in what feels like forever. 

“He’s so annoying, glad to know some things never change.” Kihyun giggled, hiding his wide smile behind a loosely closed fist. 

“A real mood maker that one, huh?” Shownu said, not minding one bit that the younger Leader was using him as a support post for his full-body laugh. 

“We should get those phone calls sorted away, I can call the Hia Depot, if you want?” Kihyun suggested, allowing himself to linger at Shownu’s side for just a second longer before pulling his styler out, ready to dial in. 

Shownu smiled in thanks, “And I’ll inform the Chairperson.”

“You’re really taking one for the team.”

“I can say the same about you, I can practically feel the chill coming from the line already.”

The two Leaders shared one more chuckle before parting way, promising to reconvene later for their regular work-lunch. Gunhee peeked his head out from behind the corner he mistakenly turned in to and smiled a toothy grin to himself. 

_ To be young and in love, indeed~ _

“Ay, Dami, where you at?!”

**……….**

Paths and journeys. Fate and destiny. Light and Darkness.

Everything all our heroes have ever known have mixed and merged in ways none of them ever anticipated, and while all of them would like to turn back the clock and right all their wrongs, they know that the only way this is struggle will ever pass is to face the shadows lingering before them head on, only then can they start moving towards a brighter tomorrow. 

They’ve all suffered through a great many things, loss and heartbreak being only the tip of the iceberg, but that too shall come to pass. They’re coming up to the final leg of their tiring journey. 

This is the beginning of the end. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapters 7 & 8 were supposed to be one big chapter… but after writing up several rough drafts i decided that maybe they worked better as two separate chapters… so, hope y’all didn’t mind these being short...er than the others, but hey… you got them early ;) 
> 
> Next chapter is gonna be an interlude of sorts before moving into our two-part finale!! We’re in the homestretch now, y’all!


	9. Interlude of The End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WONHO IS INNOCENT BAYBAY YEEHAW. We’ve all been knew.

The lights were dimmed to a low green light, the various images displayed on the walls of the room acting as a secondary source of illumination. Shownu and Kihyun stood at the forefront of the room, a pack of Rangers and select civilians waiting eagerly to hear what the distinguished Leaders had to say. 

“Thanks to the information provided by a source that we have elected to give anonymity to… for now, at least… we have not only secured a full list of suspects, but a possible location as well… in addition we have compiled a list of charges that apply.” Shownu informed. The array of shocked gasps that filled the room struck a blow to his confidence. None of this was easy to take in, the expressions of disbelief were telling enough. 

Kihyun glanced at Shownu with concern and didn’t hesitate to take over, “As you can see from the map we have pulled up, our intel has a base sited in the mountains of Hia, and while we don’t have an exact location as of this moment… The statement Pueltown Gym Leader Song Gunhee has given us leads us to believe that there may be port of some sort in the West-”

“A port in the West!?” Namjoon balked, nearly spitting his coffee all over the holographic floor, “All the Western side of Hia has to offer is ice-covered mountains and frostbite!”

“Oh Namjoon, ever the charming one, you are…” Came the chattering voice of the Hia Valley Depot’s Leader, a young man by the name of Jung Yunho. Given the great geographical distance between Pueltown and Hia, the Leader had no choice but to attend this meeting via video conference, but better than total absence - given the amount of information the young Leader has prepared for them, “And for the record, Kihyun isn’t wrong…” Namjoon raised an eyebrow, mouth slightly open in disbelief.

“Wha-”

“So the intel I asked you to look into came back with some results?” Kihyun grinned, Yunho hummed in response, “Excellent, I’ll let you take it from here, then.”

Yunho look at his peers through the fuzzy camera display and cleared his throat, “Now, I’ll be honest with you guys, when Kihyun called me up the other day and told me to look for a damn port in the mountains, I thought the man finally lost his mind-”

“Yunho.”

“But! We sent an aerial team out within the hour and what we found was… surprising to say the least.” Several aerial photos of a mountain popped up on the holographic wall beside Yunho’s image, “If you look closely, you can see a compound camouflaged in with the mountain side, kinda hard to see under all the ice and snow…” One of the pictures zoomed in impossibly close to reveal what appeared to be a hanger door with two men standing post outside, “but it’s there.”

Kihyun didn’t miss the way Minhyuk’s eyes widened at the sight of the picture, their eyes met and Minhyuk nodded shortly. Both Kihyun and Shownu (with major convincing from Gunhee) decided it would be best if Minhyuk and Jooheon worked with them on this case. They could be trusted, somewhat... but Kihyun didn’t think for a second that any of the other Rangers in the room would be all too open to cooperating with someone who worked closely with the enemy, but the knowledge he has of this organization is far too valuable for that to be thrown out by bias. Kihyun will face whatever reprimands he’s sure to receive, but right now he is willing to stick his neck out on the chopping block in order to bring this case to a close. But Arceus  _ damn _ are both Minhyuk and Jooheon  _ annoying _ . He can’t wait to send them in for the shit-load of community service he has waiting for them once this mess has been properly cleaned up. 

“And it gets weirder…” Yunho continued, “We had a Ranger scope out the sea bordering the mountain and you will not believe your eyes…” A series of blurry pictures were lined up on the screen, and, at a frame-by-frame pace, were cycled through to depict a large opening in the stone of the mountain side, and in it: a cargo ship and small charter vessel. 

“Is that a-?”

“That’s the boat I saw that night… I’m sure of it…”

“Well, I’ll be damned.” Namjoon gapped, “There’s a port on the Western fucking side of Hia…” 

“This sounds awfully familiar.” Crawford huffed, “Back in the Brighton days one of our Rangers discovered a whole port inside the volcano in Boyleland. It shocked me then… and it sure as heck is shocking me now.” An uneasy silence filled the room at the mention of Brighton; no one knew what to do with the information given to them, but they all had the eerie sense of dread that history could possibly be repeating itself. 

“Is there anything else you got, Yunho?” All eyes turned to Shownu as he graciously broke the unsettling silence that had fallen upon the usually boisterous room. 

“So glad you asked, because it really does get more bizarre…” A series of building schematics and blueprints made their way on the screen along with an overhead shot of the mysterious compound, “We had to do a lot of digging for this, but we figured since it’s such a large structure,  _ someone _ had to have cleared this thing to be built, and let me tell you, the Almia Office of Code Enforcement would not hand these over easily. On the right we have, as you can see, another photo of the building… and on the left is the same building’s map…” 

One look at the board and everyone could see why Yunho trailed off with uncertainty. The outline on the official blueprints didn’t match the outline of the building at all. 

“Yunho, are you sure-?” Mingi spoke up to question his fellow Ranger. 

Yunho frowned, “The perimeter in the plan is also accounting for sub-levels beneath it… it definitely threw us off when we went through them…” 

“Hm, wonder why.” 

“Shut up, Namjoon.” A handful of people groaned. 

“Anyway.” Yunho continued, “There are two other levels below ground. The only odd thing about level B1 is that it’s much larger than the ground floor… But the layout for the lowest level, however…” Yet another image appeared, and this one left them scratching their heads, “You guys really aren’t seeing it-? Goodness gracious- Jongho! Overlap the images, please…” 

The aerial shot of the building slipped beneath the basement-level floor-plan as soon as the Hia Leader gave the order. Then it clicked, maybe not as quickly for Gunhee and Minhyuk… but the collection of Rangers all nearly screeched. The layout extended far beyond the Westeren side of the building and into the side of the mountain. 

“What were the coordinates for the hidden port?” Crawford asked. 

“42.20°N, 143.80°E.” Yunho supplied.

“And the building plan?” 

“42.20°N, 143.80°E.” Yunho repeated, “Now, as far as building codes go, I didn’t see anything that allowed drilling into the side of a mountain, but-”

“Looks like some shady shit if I’ve ever seen any...” Minnie interjected. No one called her out on her disruption, and Namjoon could feel his eye twitch. 

“Exactly what we were thinking.” The Hia Leader concluded, “With that said… Shownu. Kihyun. I’ll leave this in your hands now.” 

Shownu nodded, “Excellent work, Yunho.” He shared a glance with Kihyun before the younger Leader carried on the meeting. 

“We had a feeling the information would support the statements we received, so we already started conceptualizing a plan.” Kihyun stated. A few eyebrows shot up to their hairlines. 

“Who’s this  _ we _ , Kiki?” Crawford queried with a feline-like smirk stretching his face.

The implications were lost on Kihyun, though, “Shownu and I?” 

Minnie joined in on whatever it was Crawford was getting at, “Oh? Since when does Mr. Uptight And Serious play nice with others?” Shownu stifled a chuckle as Kihyun fought off the urge to roll his eyes. 

“Focus on the matter at hand, please.” Kihyun hissed, but directed his glare to Gunhee, who looked ready to open that big mouth of his. The man in question only crossed his arms with a huff, but a fresh smirk adorned his features. “Anyways, the plan that Shownu and I have come up with is very much a work in progress, but I will ask you to hold all comments and critiques until the end.” Kihyun looked at the Vientown crew specifically. The two representatives made a zip and lock motion over their lips and tuned in obnoxiously to what Kihyun had to say - that whole Depot is full of theatrics… 

“We want to move out as many Rangers as we can to Hia.” He paused briefly for the inevitable groan of displeasure, “And divide them up into four groups. Yeosang, if you will.” The young Mechanic fiddled with the electronic board until several diagrams and charts covered the expanse of the lime-green wall. “As you can see, we have your classic  _ Infiltrate and Detain _ style mission. Group A will cause a ruckus near the front while Group B split off and search the building for the Pokémon and two high-profile names involved.” Several composite sketches of Taemin and Mark were displayed amongst the mess of charts, courtesy the very detailed description provided by Minhyuk and Jooheon. 

“Their names are Lee Taemin and Lee Mark - no relation. We’ve chosen to prioritize their capture above the Pokémon… even if we can’t find the Pokémon, they  _ will _ know where they are.” Hums of agreement filled the room, and for a second, the Leaders heading the meeting were relieved this move wasn’t met with controversy - it certainly wasn’t an easy decision to come to. “As for Group C, they will stand post along the perimeter of the building and act as back up, and if it comes down to it, to detain any runaways. And that leaves us with Group D, our communications group. Mechanics will stay back at our ‘homebase’ and relay information between the groups.” Yeosang, the only Mechanic in the room, said a silent prayer of thanks for not having to endure the bitter cold, Mingi and Dami shot their co-Ranger a piercing glare. “That’s the gist of it, we’ll workshop this some more once we get up there, but for now… any questions?” 

The Rangers in the room shook their heads, all of them accepting the plan as is… So it was only natural that the person who had any comment to make wasn’t a Ranger at all.

“Yeah, Kiks. I got one.” Gunhee voiced, pointing two finger guns at Kihyun, the Leader sighed before gesturing for the man to continue, “It sounds like y’all’re gonna be expecting a fight… are you Rangers actually prepared for that?” He asked. It was an innocent enough question for an outsider, but Kihyun knew damn well this ass wasn’t an outsider.

“Maybe if you stayed in Ranger School longer than a month, you  _ would have _ seen all the battle training we went through.” Kihyun deadpanned. 

Gunhee rolled his eyes, “I remember it very well, Ki. Kicked your ass once or twice if I recall, but that’s not my point.” Gunhee made his way to the front and addressed the full room, “Show of hands, how many of y’all have  _ actually _ had to do an all out, life-or-death battle before?” Only three hands in a room of far too many were raised, “Yeah. That’s what I thought. We’re dealing with a group that has no qualms with smashing a kid’s face into the floor and leaving him for dead.”

The room fell silent at the Gym Leaders harsh words. Shownu had no choice but to relent, “What do you have in mind, Gun?” 

Gunhee let a wild, dangerous smile take over his face, “I say you get a few seasoned battle-heads and set them loose. Me and a couple Gym Leaders, and-”

“I see where you’re going with this. I’m not involving Changkyun.”

“Bold of you to assume you have the power to stop him.” He pointed at Mingi across the room -- who looked about as stunned as a Stantler caught in headlights -- and gestured for him to open the door. Once the tall Ranger figured out what the Gym Leader was asking, he hit the switch on the automatic door and two bodies came tumbling forward into the meeting room. Changkyun and Hoseok looked up from where they were tangled up in each other on the floor and waved awkwardly to the room full of people. 

Gunhee gave a satisfied little grin, “Wow, I am so relieved y’all were actually loitering, that would have been embarrassing for me!” 

“Good for you.” Hoseok mocked as he helped pull Changkyun to his feet. The Rangers all eyed the pair with narrow, questioning stares - save for Crawford and Minnie, who waved excitedly at the eavesdroppers. Changkyun waved back shyly whilst Hoseok decided it was best to pretend he didn’t know the embarrassing Rangers  _ at all. _

“Changkyunnie~” Gunhee singsonged. Hoseok didn’t like the mischievous lilt the Gym Leader added to Changkyun’s name, but this wasn’t his place to insert that discomfort, “How would you feel about-”

“Gunhee!”

“Coming with us and-”

“Stop it, Gun!”

“Beating the asses of the guys that took our Pokémon?” Gunhee finished his proposal, much to the displeasure of Shownu, Kihyun,  _ and  _ Hoseok. The former milkman was very aware of the regrets and pain the Trainer harboured; he only spoke of it every time Hoseok implored him to speak his mind. So he couldn’t blame Changkyun for accepting Gunhee’s invitation with little hesitation, but that doesn’t mean he had to be okay with the way his eyes, that have been devoid of any light in the days since the  _ incident _ \- as they have dubbed it, ignite at the thought at taking Punch back. It’s a look that scared the hell out of Hoseok. Not because he was afraid of his friend, far from it. He just doesn’t want to see him lose himself to anger.

Hoseok clenched his jaw at the thought of Changkyun losing that radiant, youthful smile of his, “If he goes, I go too.” Hoseok said with resolve. Changkyun looked to his friend with a quiet gasp, the last thing the Trainer wanted to do was drag Hoseok into this fight with him, but he seemed to have forgotten how much Hoseok was really willing to sacrifice for him - it took Changkyun back each time, but he always remembered to thank him in whatever way he could. Changkyun took Hoseok’s hand in his (an easy grab since their knuckles were already brushing) and gave a light squeeze accompanied with a small smile. 

“Do you have any battle experience aside from spectating?” Gunhee questioned as he stroked his little chin beard like a prophet from a bygone era.

Hoseok gulped, “No…” 

Gunhee evaluated the answer in his head, weighing the pros and cons of bringing, what was essentially, a civilian into a potential battle zone, “Sure. Why not.” He shrugged. Hoseok was a bit surprised at the immediate response, but he took this as a good sign. 

“Who the hell are you, anyway?!” Namjoon yelled for a second time. Gunhee only winked in his direction with a subtle wink, the Ranger took a  _ very _ confused step back.

“An arceusdamn nuisance is what he is.” Kihyun grumbled under his breath. Shownu gave the man a calming pat on the back that went unnoticed by no one, before addressing the room one last time. 

“Okay. Is that all? No other questions?” He asked. Only Changkyun raised his reluctantly, the result of being pulled in without a moment's notice, Shownu assumed, “Mingi will fill you in on the plan, so don’t worry.” Changkyun nodded hesitantly, scanning the room to find the tall Ranger and shot him a friendly smile. “We’ll reconvene here in two days' time, so gather everything you’ll need and prepare yourselves... come prepared with your own Staraptors too…”

“Wait wait wait!” Crawford huffed, everyone looked to their senior Ranger with attention, “You can’t just dismiss us without giving it a name!” A lightbulb of realization flipped on in Shownu’s mind. The Operation Name. Every big mission a Ranger partakes in has one… how could he forget. He switched his gaze to Kihyun glimmering eyes -- watching him with that attentive gaze of his -- for a split second and cleared his throat. 

“We will reconvene here in two days’ time to set Operation Shiny into motion. You’re dismissed.” Shownu said with more confidence than he’s felt in weeks. It felt good to have direction again, hopefully this operation will yield the results they're all aiming for. Kihyun turned to him with a proud smile and gave his bicep a squeeze, a way to say  _ great job today _ , before turning on his heel to track down Gunhee and string him up by his toes. Too bad the Gym Leader was a slippery one. 

“That’s more like it, Nunu!” Crawford applauded, ready to take his leave, but was stopped abruptly by Gunhee. 

“Craw-guy, nice to meet ya. Hey, can you do me a favor?” He asked, with an out-of-character stammer and blush. 

“Uh-”

“Awesome! I heard you’re from the good ol’ Vien, so give this to the Gym Leader down there for me, ‘kay?” Gunhee slipped him a small paper note before dashing away from the confused Ranger, Kihyun speed walking very close behind; he nearly toppling Jooheon over as the man made his way into the room. 

Jooheon didn’t mean to miss out on the meeting this morning, but the severe ass-kicking he received a few days before left him with a concussion significant enough for him to be threatened into staying in bed - courtesy of one Minhyuk. But he knew today was important to them  _ and _ every innocent person involved in this mess, and he’d be damned if he’d be blind to what everyone was working tirelessly on. 

He spotted Minhyuk almost immediately. Even dressed down in a bland Ranger-issued tank and shorts (the one’s Min hated oh so much), Minhyuk still stood out amongst everyone in the room. Jooheon gravitated over to the man, who was currently in the middle of a conversation with Shownu, who  _ really  _ looked like he didn’t want to be there anymore. Jooheon chuckled to himself, may as well save him. 

“Hey Min, you know everyone isn’t accustomed to your uninterrupted ramblings, right?” Jooheon murmured, throwing an arm around his long-time friend. Minhyuk gave a scoff of discontent, but ultimately shrugged the longer he thought about it. 

“Maybe so, but I have a  _ lot  _ of  _ very _ important things to say and not enough time to say them.” Minhyuk rebutted. 

“I honestly haven’t the foggiest clue what you were trying to tell me.” Shownu admitted. 

Jooheon snickered a laugh while Minhyuk gasped indignantly as though the statement actually surprised him, “What I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted,” Minhyuk paused to narrow his eyes at Jooheon, but the younger man knew there was no hostility behind them, “I should be in one of the infiltration teams.”

Jooheon could feel every cell in his body seize at his friend’s request- no. Demand. Minhyuk’s gaze was steadfast and serious, even Shownu looked surprised at the man’s words. But Jooheon knows Minhyuk too well, he knows that Minhyuk isn’t the type to put himself into dangerous situations… but also knows that Minhyuk feels solely responsible for these happenings - which was absolute nonsense to Jooheon. 

“I’ve been in that building once, I know the rough layout of the first two levels. I can be an asset to you guys!” Minhyuk argued with a steeled gaze, and right now Jooheon was about tired of that self-sacrificing attitude of his. 

Shownu went to give his response just as Jooheon threw in his two PokéCents, “Add me to the list, because I’ve been there too.”

“No.” Minhyuk simply said, not looking at the younger man. 

“And why not?”

“You’re injured.”

“And you aren’t?” Jooheon bit back. That got Minhyuk to look at him properly. 

“You have a concussion.”

“And your whole chest was used as a cutting board.”

Shownu looked back and forth between the quarreling pair as they listed off reasons the both of them should be in a bed right now, every time he opened his mouth to interject they would throw one more retort at each other. It was enough to make Shownu’s eye twitch. 

“Gentlemen.” Shownu bellowed. The duo paused mid syllable to look at the imposing Ranger, their mouths snapped shut upon seeing his unamused expression. They’ve really done it now, “I will take your requests into consideration when I discuss things further with Ranger Yoo, but until then I must ask that you discuss your personal matter with someone that isn’t me.” He stated with a sigh. Shownu’s eyes drifted from the stalk-still men and to the door where Kihyun had reentered the room, sweating and out of breath, “Speaking of Ranger Yoo…”

And with that, Shownu left the men in their silence and a multitude of things left to say. Jooheon shuffled awkwardly where he stood, not quite ready to break the silence. Luckily Minhyuk was always one to start a conversation, “I don’t want you getting hurt anymore.” He frowned. 

Jooheon instinctually curled a finger around Minhyuk’s large hands and looked him in his teary eyes, “I don’t want you to get hurt either, Min. How do you think I feel hearing you talk about throwing yourself into danger?” Minhyuk didn’t have an answer, he only gripped Jooheon’s hand tightly in his, “You’re not responsible for everything that’s happened - I chose this life too, you know… Either let me fight this battle with you, or don’t fight it at all.” He pleaded. 

A warm tear ran down Minhyuk’s face at Jooheon’s sincere words. The man in question brought a hand up to wipe the tear before it could fall too far, “You always say the cheesiest things.” 

“How was that cheesy?” Jooheon chuckled, rubbing small circles into the other man’s cheek.

“Just had that vibe.” Jooheon rolled his eyes as he gave Minhyuk a tug towards the door.

“Shownu’s right, though, we should talk about this more… somewhere else…” The younger man sighed, seeing the handful of people still in the room and feeling slightly embarrassed by their little spout.

Minhyuk pouted as he let Jooheon pull him along to their shared room (read: cot-filled storage closet), “Why do I feel like I’m about to be scolded.” Jooheon only rolled his eyes once more. They both mumbled their apologies to the Pueltown and Altru Leaders as they made their exit - neither man paid them much mind, which, honestly… fair.

Shownu raised an eyebrow at the near exhausted man in front of him. If he hadn’t known Kihyun had been operating on three hours of sleep and a gallon of coffee, he would have poked fun at his lack of stamina.

“For an injured man, Gunhee sure runs fast.” Kihyun breathlessly huffed. He placed a hand on Shownu’s sagging shoulder for stability and frowned -- the reality of having to haul ass to Hia is starting to set in, and Shownu isn’t exactly thrilled about it -- Kihyun could sense the man wasn’t entirely… calm. 

“How are you holding up.” Kihyun cringed slightly at himself, “That’s a dumb question, sorry…” 

Shownu chuckled half-heartedly. Being hesitant about a mission because of some cold weather was a childish thing in his mind, especially considering this whole mission was co-created by him… But it felt nice to have someone show a little compassion for his immature concerns.

“It isn’t… thank you.” Shownu smiled, enjoying the warmth of the other man’s hand, he won’t be feeling warm for a while… “I’m more concerned about that guy over there.” He gestured to his loyal Ursaring standing in the corner of the now lit room; where he’s been quietly standing throughout the meeting. Shownu knows he’s well aware of their next mission stop.

Kihyun cooed at the large, sulky Pokémon and beckoned him over. Ursaring bumbled over with a little grumbly growl, he stopped in front of Kihyun -- towering over him slightly -- dropped his head low. The Ranger cupped Ursaring’s face, his hands sunk into his thick fur as he rubbed soothing circles, Ursaring rumbled happily, “It’s okay, Guma, you’re gonna be a-okay, bud.” Kihyun must’ve hit a good spot, because Ursaring started to thump his heavy leg against the floor.

Shownu knows that if anyone else were to try that with his dear Guma, their hand would be gnawed off - this just continued to prove to him that Kihyun wasn’t just  _ anyone _ . Shownu would be lying if he said he didn’t know the exact moment he realized he may feel a little more than friendly coworker  camaraderie for his fellow Leader, if anything, it was a collection of moments that built into one big mass of fondness that accelerated his heart rate every time he thought about him. And right now the scene of Kihyun caring for his most beloved partner was sending his heart into overdrive.

There’s a lot Shownu wants to tell Kihyun, but he wasn’t sure when or where was the right place… if it was even appropriate to say anything at all. The wide, closed-eye smile (the one that crinkles his eyes) Kihyun was giving him boosted the courage Shownu had lying dormant inside of him. He took a shallow breath. 

“So… what should I wear to dinner when we get back?” Not exactly what Shownu wanted to say, but judging by the slick eyebrow raise Kihyun gave, he can assume it wasn’t the worst thing he could have said. Kihyun removed his hands from where he was still comforting Ursaring and brought them to Shownu’s uniform jacket. He flattened the material covering his chest and gave the ends a tug to straighten the seams, Kihyun then pulled Shownu a tad closer by his lapels; he silently hoped the other man couldn’t feel his heart beating out of his chest, “Something casual, but nice. Maybe something other than these tacky boots. Don’t worry too much, you’ll look great in anything.” He smiled gently. 

It was safe to say Shownu was as good as gone. 

“Y-yeah!” 

Kihyun chuckled as he removed his hands with one last pat before turning to leave, “I’ve got a few things to get sorted out back in Altru, I’ll see you soon Ranger Shownu.” Kihyun gave Guma one last scritch behind the ears before waving his goodbye, a playful smirk on his face. It takes a second for Shownu to fully register the  _ very _ suggestive act, but maybe (just maybe) he can sleep well tonight knowing that  _ maybe _ his feelings  _ might _ have a chance of being reciprocated. Yeosang shot his Leader a double-thumbs-up-smile combo as soon as the young Mechanic got his attention. Shownu cleared his throat with an awkward cough as he made to leave the room as well, he gave Mingi -- who was still briefing Changkyun and Hoseok on the matter at hand -- a clap on the back before dismissing himself. May as well get a headstart on his Hia packing. He looked over his shoulder at Ursaring following solemnly behind and pondered where he could get a triple XL coat.

Mingi startled slightly at the large hand that came down upon his shoulder, having been too caught up in his explanation of the mission to the two outsiders. He nodded his acknowledgments to the Leader then turned his attention back to the men in front of him. Hoseok looked strong and sure next to the smaller Trainer, yet it was Hoseok that was clinging to his friend for support. Changkyun has a fire in his eyes that carried an intimidating edge to him, the slowly healing bruise only added to his glaring appearance. Mingi didn’t miss how the only thing Hoseok was able to focus on was the way Changkyun’s face contorted in intense thought as he continued on. Mingi distantly wonders if he’ll ever find someone that’ll look at him like that… 

“And that’s the gist. I suggest wearing something warm, it’s a frozen wasteland out there.” Mingi concluded. 

Changkyun nodded thankfully, “I appreciate you filling us in, sorry about-” tried to apologize for taking up the Ranger’s time, but Mingi simply would not allow it. 

Mingi raised a hand to shush him, “It’s literally my job, don’t worry about it, but I do have to get a few things around town sorted out before we embark. Yeosang! Grab your toolbelt, we got some Rapidash shoes to fix!” 

The Mechanic sighed as he did as told, “Fine, but you gotta promise I won’t get kicked in the chest again.”

“I don’t know why you complain about it, your sternum healed in record time!” Mingi smiled, throwing an arm around the shorter man.

“ _ Your sternum healed in record time. _ ” He mocked in a low voice to match Mingi’s gravely tone, “I wasn’t built for field work in the first place you insufferable lamppost.” Yeosang grumbled, but not doing anything to shake the slightly younger man off.

Changkyun turned to Hoseok with an unreadable expression, “What are these Rangers made of…”

“I could say the same thing about that unbreakable skull of yours.” Hoseok chuckled, ruffling the younger man’s hair gently; blush decorating both of their faces as he slowly pulled away. Luckily for them, there wasn’t anyone left in the room to witness them dance around the romantic tension they were both oblivious to - Arceus help the both of them.

“Thank you.” Changkyun suddenly said.

Hoseok giggled, “You say that so often I don’t know what you’re even thanking me for.” He lightly teased.

“For offering to go up there with me, thank you.” Changkyun’s voice was serious and steady, taking Hoseok back a bit. He reached for the Trainer’s hand and laced their fingers together with a small smile.

“I’d follow you to the ends of the world.” Hoseok softly said, “Just promise me you’ll be careful, okay?” 

“I’m more worried about you, Seok.” Changkyun pulled him towards the door with a cute smirk. Hoseok could feel a bubble of relief rise in his chest as he watched Changkyun’s playful smile take center stage. It eased Hoseok’s mind knowing that despite the immense pressure weighing on the Trainer’s shoulders, Changkyun was still able to joke around with that twinkle in his eyes - it made his heart flutter too. 

“I can take care of myself, thank you very much!” Hoseok said with a fake annoyed tone that deteriorated into dispersed laughter. He matched Changkyun’s pace and swung their hands back and forth, “So, where to now?” 

“Back to the camp… I wanna train with Houndour a little more.” Hoseok couldn’t argue with the radiant grin that he didn’t have to see to know it was gracing the Trainer’s face - oh how he’s enjoyed watching Changkyun show the three-legged hound how to do a power stance, a very cute sight if Hoseok has ever seen one. 

But not even the glee of watching Changkyun and his Pokémon pour their hearts out in their training couldn’t drown out the anxiety surrounding the situation hammering away at his mind, but the bashful side glance, followed by the light blush dusting his Changkyun gave him further incentive to make sure that smile never disappears again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *pointing at the ateez boys* those are my sons and they must be mentioned all the time. (seonghwa and woo will get their time… i will make sure of it…)
> 
> I have absolutely no idea when 10 will be up lmao…. I’m aiming for April 6th, then the finale two weeks after that,,,,,,,but shit’s hard bro 
> 
> NOW, before anyone asks about the coordinates I wrote… Since Sinnoh is based off of Hokkaido, and Almia has been famously theorized to be located right below Sinnoh… I pieced the maps together and lined them up over a grid of Hokkaido and -- using Sapporo as a starting point -- got a rough coordinate reading of where Hia would be on a real world map… is it accurate? Probably not!…but goddammit am i persistent in making this shit as real as possible…


End file.
